A Scout, a Femme, and the Stars
by Darth Echo
Summary: When Echo arrives on Earth to aid Optimus Prime, she and Bumblebee do not see eye to eye. They fight and bicker at every turn until Raf steps in. Can they ever get along? Or will they become more than friends? Rated M for violence and mature content [Bumblebee x OC]
1. Hostile Scout

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo and Cassy. **

**Enjoy! **

**Chapter 1**

Bumblebee peeked around the boulder he was hiding behind. Looking around, he saw a squad of Vehicons entering the energon mine. Arcee and Bulkhead were crouched down behind a larger rock next to him. "We need that energon," the two-wheeler glared down at the mine. Bumblebee beeped in agreement and climbed on top of the rock, aiming his guns at the Decepticons.

"'Bee, wait!" Bulkhead called out, activating his gun and jumping over the boulder. The scout ignored him and began firing at the purple bots, who summoned their weapons and returned the fire. Bulkhead joined the fight as Arcee rolled her optics and began firing from behind the boulder.

More Decepticons poured out from the mine to fight the Autobots. Bumblebee ran towards them and kicked one square in the chest, punching him into unconsciousness. Another mech made an attempt at hitting the scout, but he dodged the blow and rammed into the Con, knocking him down. The yellow mech transformed and ran over the Vehicon.

He made his way into the mine, Arcee and Bulkhead following behind him as they finished off the other Decepticons. Inside, laborers were hauling chunks of energon into crates to be transported back to the Nemesis.

Bumblebee changed into his bi-pedal form and shot at the Cons, making sure not to accidentally hit the fresh energon. "Autobots!" The unarmed Cons stopped and ran out of the mine. Arcee and Bulkhead began firing at them before the yellow scout stopped them. "_They're unarmed_," he beeped, deactivating his guns.

Arcee walked around, staring at the small, yet energon-rich mine. "Finally," Bulkhead exhaled, resting a servo against a massive energon crystal. Bumblebee turned around and reached to activate his comlink, but a call from outside the mine stopped him. "Incoming!" a Con yelled. The scout ran out of the mine and gazed up at the sky.

Arcee and Bulkhead joined him, gasping as they saw what the commotion was. "Is that a meteor?" Bulk asked optics wide. "_I don't know, but it's headed straight for us_," Bumblebee chirped as his doorwings raised in alarm, "_Run_!"

The three Autobots separated and ran as fast as they could. The object, which was now on fire, hurtled towards the open space outside the mine. Bumblebee ducked as the impact sent a tremble through the ground. A billow of dust moved away from the crater the object created.

Arcee and Bulkhead walked over to where Bumblebee was now climbing down to inspect the silver object. Gasping, Bumblebee waved the two down. "_It's Cybertronian_," he ran a servo along the symbols engraved in the metal. "Is it a ship?" Bulkhead asked, nervously sliding down the slope of the dip.

"_Too small_," the scout answered. He noticed a puddle of energon below a leaking pipe. A small fire flickered next to it. _Uh oh…_

Just then, a black blur appeared from behind the mass. "Run, it's going to blow!" The figure called out, running past the Autobots towards the trees for cover. Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead hurriedly climbed out of the ditch and ran in the direction the being had gone.

Within moments, Bumblebee heard the flame ignite, and an orange and black bloom of smoke erupted as the Cybertronian craft exploded. The scout looked around and saw a Cybertronian hiding behind a tree. The femme was sleek and black. Her cat-like ears were flat as she flinched from the blast. She blinked her blue optics a couple of times before noticing the yellow Autobot. "Autobot, or Decepticon?" she asked, stepping away from her position.

"_I would ask the same of you_," Bumblebee said sharply. "What planet am I on?" the femme asked, narrowing her optics at the mech's cold reply. The yellow Autobot walked up to her and activated his guns. "_Who are you_?" he bleeped as Arcee and Bulkhead found their way towards the two.

"Thanks for the warning," Bulkhead said sarcastically, not the least bit concerned. The femme slightly smiled and turned to look at the damage of the explosion. "Sorry, I don't do well with escape pods," she laughed, flickering her tail, another one of her feline features.

_"I asked you a question,"_ Bumblebee stepped closer to the femme, glaring at her_, "Who are you?"_ Arcee stepped in between the two as the stranger hissed at Bumblebee, revealing sharp, fanged teeth.

Arcee pushed Bumblebee back and rolled her optics. "Both of you calm down," she said, though more towards her fellow Autobot. Bulkhead stepped forwards with a smile. "It would be easier to trust you if we knew your name," he gestured towards Bumblebee, who had his servos crossed and a hateful look on his faceplates.

The stranger glared at him with sharp, oval optics before they turned back to her normal, round, baby blue optics. "My name is Echo," the femme's face fell into a smile, "And I see that you three are Autobots, correct?" Bumblebee narrowed his optics and pushed past Arcee, _"Yeah. Are you a Decepticon, 'cause you sure seem like one to me."_ Echo stood tall and bared her teeth at the scout. "I would never think about joining those cowards. I'm a member of Cybertron's Elite Guard, and I would never turn my back against the Autobot cause."

"_Where's your insignia_?" Bumblebee smirked with his eyes, "_You can't be an Autobot without one._" Echo swayed her tail in irritation. "I am an Autobot, but my insignia was taken from me." Bumblebee rolled his optics and stared at her, "_Sure_."

"I do have the Elite Guard symbol right here," she pointed at the edge of her right ear, and sure enough, the red insignia of the Elite Guards was engraved there.

The scout looked her up and down as Arcee called back to base. _"How did someone steal your insignia?"_ Echo hissed once more before a flash of hurt went across her face. "I was tortured by the Decepticons. My insignia was on my doorwings before Megatron ripped them off," the femme said as she turned around, revealing knobs on her back where doorwings would have been attached. "I can't get them back now."

"Whoa," Bulkhead's optics widened, "That must've hurt."

"It did," the black femme sighed, turning back around the face the green mech. "Hey, you and 'Bee have something in common," Bulkhead began saying, before the yellow mech silenced him with a sharp chirp. _"Don't socialize with her,"_ Bumblebee buzzed, _"She's obviously a Decepticon spy."_ Arcee shook her helm and pushed the scout back once more.

"And you are obviously a child throwing a tantrum," Echo mocked back, growling. Bumblebee shook in anger and was about to punch the femme before a ground bridge opened up behind him. Optimus walked out and glanced around. He titled his helm when he spotted Echo straightening up.

"Hello," Prime greeted, walking over to the femme. "My name is Optimus Prime." Echo nodded and smiled. "I received your message Optimus." She stepped closer to the large mech and shook his hand, "My name is Echo."

Optimus raised an optic ridge and tilted his helm. "You wouldn't happen to be a member of Cybertron's Elite Guard, would you?" he asked, remembering the names of Ultra Magnus's comrades. "Why yes, sir, I am," Echo looked at Bumblebee, "Though your soldiers don't believe me."

Bumblebee scowled at her and crossed his servos. Optimus noticed this and frowned. "I believe you," he said as he took in the crater. "Are you injured?" Echo shook her helm and smiled in appreciation, "I am fine, thank you." Optimus raised an optic ridge and looked down at her left arm, which had a small cut on it. "Okay, maybe just a little scratched up," the black femme chuckled.

"Bulkhead, Arcee, will you please collect the energon," Optimus ordered as he turned to the scout, "And Bumblebee, I need you to escort Echo to Ratchet immediately." The yellow bot beeped a grunt and gestured with his helm for Echo to go through the groundbridge. The femme rolled her optics and did so, keeping an eye on the Autobot scout.

Bumblebee beeped to himself, something Echo couldn't pick up. "Afthead," she whispered, looking away from him. _"Get fragged,"_ the yellow bot grumbled, causing Echo to bare her teeth at him. "Slagger," she hissed. As they walked into the base, a red and white mech walked up to them.

"Whoa, calm down," he said, hearing the long string of curses the bots were throwing at each other. _"Pit-spawned femme,"_ Bumblebee said as the two got in each other's face as the groundbridge closed. The red mech attempted to separate them before he recognized the black femme "Echo!" the medic exclaimed, "Bumblebee, back off." The black femme smiled when she saw Ratchet.

"It's good to see you, old friend," she smiled and walked away from the seething Bumblebee. She bowed her head in respect for the medic, "It's been a long time since Praxus."

"_I can't believe this_," Bumblebee grumbled as he stormed off. Echo turned to Ratchet and cocked her head in the yellow mech's direction, "What's his deal?" Ratchet shrugged as the groundbridge control beeped. The medic walked over and pulled the lever.

The groundbridge activated and Optimus stepped through, looking around for Echo. "I believe you left something," he said. Echo look at him with confusion. She soon got her answer when a gray wolf-like maximal ran from behind Prime's legs and ran towards Echo. The wolf jumped on top of her and licked her face. "Cassy!" Echo got up and scratched the dog underneath it's chin. Then she frowned and crossed her servos. "I thought I told you not to follow me," she glared at the wolf, which sat down and looked at her paws in shame. Echo rolled her optics and sighed, "It's okay."

Optimus raised a brow at the exchange, "How did you come to find this rare creature?" Echo smiled and stood up straight, "I found her when she was a sparkling after the Battle of Tyger Pax. I am sorry that her appearance was unplanned. Would you like me to find another place for her?"

"We can use all of the help we can get," the mech said in his baritone voice, smiling. Echo laughed and nodded towards Cassy, "She's wild but tough. I'm sure she will be a great help."

Bulkhead and Arcee walked through the bridge, each carrying an energon crystal large enough to supply them for weeks. Optimus gave Echo a smile before heading back out to retrieve the remaining energon.

Ratchet called Echo over and gestured towards his computer. "It's been buggy for weeks," he grumbled, "Do you think you can fix it?" Echo smirked and grabbed a wrench off the mech's work station. "Give me a few cycles and I think it'll be bug-free," she said with a wink. The femme knelt down and ripped the cover off a hard drive. Inside was Cybertronian tech.

* * *

Arcee came back from delivering the crystal and glanced at Echo working on the computer. "You're a mechanic?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. The black femme chuckled and dusted off her hands, taking one more gaze at the wiring before turning to the motorcycle. "Eh, sort of," she flicked her tail and re-plugged a wire into another port, "I learned a few things under Ratchet's mentoring."

"You know our medic?" Arcee came over and sat on the edge of the med bay berth, inspecting her hands. Echo nodded and replaced the hard drive cover, giving it a good pat. "Ratch, I think the computer's fine now," the medic turned and smiled his thanks as the femme handed his tool back to him.

Echo turned to Arcee and smiled at her. "I used to be a nurse, but then I became a warrior and a member of the Elite Guard." The blue and pink Autobot nodded in approval, "That's quite the achievement."

"Thank you," Echo said as Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked into the room. "It's time to pick up the kids," the green mech said to Arcee. "Kids?" Echo asked with a curious face. Ratchet turned to her from his work, "Here on Earth, the planet is populated with humans, an organic species. We ran into a few younglings and they have been hanging around our base for some time. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee are their guardians."

The black fembot took in the information and turned to the three Autobots, "Are they coming here?" Bulkhead nodded and was about to say something before Bumblebee beeped, "_You'll be nowhere near them_." Ratchet glared at the yellow scout while Bulkhead smacked him in the back, "C'mon 'Bee, you know the kids will love her."

Echo narrowed her optics at Bumblebee and gritted her teeth. With a flick of her tail, she turned and focused on Ratchet's computer. She typed in the password, which was the same since she was a nurse under his wing, and accessed the settings to make sure everything was running smoothly.

The three guardians transformed and drove out of the base to pick up the humans. Ratchet noticed Echo's anger and patted her on the shoulder. "He'll warm up to you in time," he said, watching her adjusting the settings. "Didn't know my welcome would be so hostile," Echo snapped back.

"He's had trust issues for awhile," Ratchet paused and waited for the femme to listen, "Ever since Megatron ripped out his voicebox during the battle of Tyger Pax, he has been more timid and less likely to trust those he met, whether or not they are Autobots."

Echo looked up in shock at the old bot's explanation. "Ripped out?" her expression softened and she frowned. "Well, he better not take his anger out on me, or else."

Ratchet rolled his optics and walked away. _Femmes…._

* * *

Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee rolled into the bunker, each with a human. The children stepped out of their guardians and walked off to do their own things. Bumblebee transformed and looked around the area. _"Where's the glitchy femme?"_ he asked Ratchet, receiving wide optics from the medic.

"Don't talk like that in front of the humans," he mumbled, "And Echo left base." Bumblebee frowned and his doorwings lowered as he went over to play video games with Raf.

A punk-style girl, Miko, turned to Bulkhead as he changed into his bi-pedal form. "Bulk, that ride was awesome!" The green mech smiled and looked at Bumblebee. Arcee stood up and leaned towards her friend, "What's his problem?" Bulkhead shrugged and glanced around the base, "Where's Echo?"

The humans went up the stairs laughing when a black car drove through the tunnel and into the base. It was a sleek and shiny Charger with blue headlights. The car sped towards the Autobot insignia on the ground and lifted into the air as it split and transformed. Echo landed with a backflip on one hand. She opened her optics and flicked her tail as the humans gasped in excitement.

"Whoa!" Miko rushed down the staircase and over to the black femme. "That was awesome! Who are you? Are you an Autobot? How many Cons have you destroyed? What's your rank? Is that a tail?" Bulkhead bent down and gently pushed Miko away. "Sorry about her," he said, "She's a little crazy."

Echo laughed and smiled. "Thank you. My name is Echo. Yes, I am an Autobot. I've wrecked a few hundred Cons in my life. I am currently a lieutenant to Ultra Magnus under Cybertron's Elite Guard. And yes, this is a tail," she finished with a swipe of her black appendage. Miko smiled and threw a fist in the air, "Cool!"

A human male, Jack, leaned on the rail of the stairs and raised a brow. "So how'd you get here?" Bumblebee stepped towards Echo with his servos crossed against his chest, "_That's what I want to know as well_."

Echo chuffed at the yellow mech and turned to Jack, "I had to leave my ship when the engines fried and I took the escape pod. I was headed for Earth anyway when I received a message from Optimus." The femme looked at Bumblebee and scowled, "Is that a good enough explanation for you?" The mech narrowed his optics and got in her face, _"I still think you're a spy."_

Bulkhead separated the two and pushed Bumblebee out of the way. He pointed to each of the kids, "This is Miko, Jack, and Raphael." Echo's optics landed on Raf and smiled. "Hi," the human boy said, waving his hand, "You can call me Raf." Echo nodded and looked at the three. "So, which charge belongs to each guardian?"

"Bumblebee's my guardian," Raf said calmly. Miko pointed to Bulkhead and then to her, "I'm with Bulk." Jack gestured towards Arcee and smirked, "And I'm stuck with her."

"Hey!" Arcee protested, narrowing her optics at Jack. Bumblebee walked around Echo and waved at Raf, "_Let's play some video games while they talk_." Raf shrugged and followed Bumblebee to a TV up on the platform where a couch and a coffee table sat. Echo looked at them before returning to Miko and Jack.

"What's the deal with the two of you?" Miko asked mischievously, pointing at the yellow mech and the black femme. Echo rolled her optics and lightly shrugged, "He's being an aft." Bulkhead coughed and looked at Echo, "So, you got your alt mode."

"Yeah," Echo welcomed the more positive note. "Where's your doors?" Arcee raised an optic ridge. The black femme slightly frowned and sighed, "I had to choose an alt mode without doors. I can't have doorwings ever again." Echo turned around and pointed at the knobs which were still on her back. "I'm sorry," Arcee placed a comforting servo on the side of Echo's arm, as the two-wheeler was too short to reach her shoulder without it being awkward.

Arcee checked the time and sighed. "Jack, you forgot that you have work today." The human grunted and walked down the stairs as Arcee transformed back into a motorcycle. He waved goodbye to Echo as the two left.

Bulkhead looked at Ratchet's computer, which was now working. "Did you fix that?" he asked the fembot. Echo nodded and took a glance at the tech herself. "Hey Raf," the green mech called to the youngling, "Echo is a techy like you." Raf turned around and smiled. He put down the game controller he was holding and ran over to the femme, "Really?"

Echo smiled and looked up before answering, "Well, I did learn a lot about Cybertronian technology, but not Earth tech." Raf pushed his glasses up on his nose and thought for a bit. "How about this, you teach me more about Cybertronian, and I'll teach you about Earth technology?" The black fembot lightly laughed and bowed her head in agreement, "That's sounds like a fair trade."

Bumblebee glared at the femme. _Oh, you are so going to get it_.

Just then, a silver motorcycle sped into the base, transforming to reveal it was Cassy. "Who's that?" Miko asked excitedly. Bulkhead and Bumblebee looked over at the maximal. "This is Cassy, my pet," Echo said, rubbing behind the back of Cassy's ears. The wolf barked in glee and licked Echo's hand. "Cybertronians have pets?" Raf asked, walking down the stairs to see it closer.

"Yeah, I found her when she was a little sparkling," the femme watched as Raf walked up to Cassy. The wolf sniffed Raf and licked his face. Raf laughed and turned to Bumblebee. "Hey 'Bee, come over and meet Cassy," he said, but his excitement dropped when he saw his guardian sulking away. _What's wrong with him?_

**A/N: I know that I have "Bumblebee's Promise" going, but I had this idea for an alternate version of this pairing. For those who read my other story, first, thank you so much for the support, and second, this is a totally different storyline from "Bumblebee's Promise". I am still deciding how this story will go and how long it will go. Please leave a review and let me know what you think :) I hope you all enjoy!**

**Update: I edited this chapter as there were mistakes everywhere, and I added some extra stuff to help the plot flow ;) I'll be doing this for other chapters as well, so stay tuned. **

**-Echobee**

**Song: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay **


	2. Friends?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs: Echo and Cassy.**

**Chapter 2**

"_Thanks a lot for getting in my way!"_ Bumblebee shouted as he and Echo bickered while walking through the groundbridge. "You were the one who couldn't shoot right!" Echo hissed, jabbing a finger at his chest. He smacked her servo away and glared, _"I was shooting fine until you got in the slagging way and cost us energon!" _

The three humans turned around to see Bulkhead and Arcee walk through the bridge with Optimus, all of them were rolling their optics. "What happened?" Raf asked, concerned. _"I'll tell you what happened,"_ Bumblebee stormed away, _"That femme prevented us from getting more energon."_ Echo growled and walked up to Raf. "No, Mr. Can't Shoot Straight here didn't even try to go after the Cons and was sitting on his aft while I made an effort to get the energon that we need," she shouted, earning a 'shut-the-slag-up' look from the medic.

Cassy appeared from the groundbridge as it closed, and she whimpered when she saw the two fighting. She made her way over to the staircase where Raf was coming down. He petted her muzzle and comforted her as Bumblebee and Echo continued to argue. "Why can't you admit that you slagged up and screwed us over?" Bumblebee chirped. Echo pushed his chest and gave him a look that could kill. "I risked my tail pipe for that energon," she snarled. The yellow mech pushed Echo back and shook with anger, "If you really tried that hard, you would have gotten it!"

The mech stormed away from Echo, not saying anything to Raf. Optimus stepped over to the femme, who was now hanging her head in shame. "Echo, Raphael needs a ride to his study group," the prime set a servo on Echo's shoulders. She nodded and turned to Raf smiling, "Let's go." Raf perked up and hopped into Echo when she transformed. "Cassy, stay here," she ordered in Cybertronian.

As the femme drove Raf to his event, the boy twiddles his thumbs. "What's with the long face, Raf?" Echo asked in concern. "It's just," he paused, exhaling, "You and 'Bee have been fighting a lot lately, and it's starting to wear down on all of us." Echo sighed and hummed. "I know," she focused on the road a bit before continuing, "Bumblebee and I just don't see eye to eye. We're too different."

Raf laughed to himself, "Hey, opposites attract." He and Echo laughed. "If only," the femme said, her steering wheel going from side to side as the road became more twisted. "You know what Miko said?" Raf asked with a smile. "What?" Echo asked with a chuckle, knowing that it must be crazy coming from Miko. The femme appreciated the support and kindness the humans gave her from day one, while not all of her fellow Autobots did the same. "She said you and 'Bee fight like a married couple," Raf smirked, reaching into his backpack to make sure he had everything. Echo ran through her memory of the terms the humans taught her. She laughed when she remembered the meaning of marriage. "I don't know what's going on," Echo said after a couple cycles of silence, "We just aren't fit to be friends."

Raf lightly grinned and shook his head. "No, I just think you two haven't tried to be friends," he said. "I would try, Raf, I really would," Echo spoke, pulling up into a neighborhood where Raf was meeting his school friends for studying, "But I don't think Bumblebee wants to be friends. Truly, I just can't deal with all of our differences." Raf zipped up his backpack and got ready to hop out. "I'll talk to him if you take me home at 9:30?" Raf laughed. "Ah, making deals again, now are we?" Echo smiled to herself, "It's a deal."

"Bye," Raf got out and waved as Echo drove back to base.

When the femme came through the tunnel, she saw Team Prime getting ready to head out. Echo transformed mid air, landing with a backflip. Bumblebee rolled his optics and crossed his servos over his chassis. "Echo, we are going on an energon mission," Optimus informed her. The femme looked to her leader and nodded. "I promised Raf I would take him home in a couple of hours," she said, "Will we be back in time?" Prime looked at Bumblebee and then back at Echo, "Why don't you stay here while we go. That way you know you will be there to pick up Raf."

Echo nodded in agreement while Bumblebee protested, "_I'm his guardian, so why don't I stay here and pick him up?_" Prime narrowed his optics at his scout and shook his helm, "Echo said that she would be there, so why would we break the promise to our young ally?" Bumblebee beeped a grunt while Echo smirked at him.

"Good luck, Optimus," Ratchet said as he activated the groundbridge. The larger mech nodded and the team transformed and drove through the bridge. Echo sighed and leaned against a rail. Miko ran up to her with a confused look. "Why didn't you go?" she asked. Echo looked at the female human out of the corner of her optic, "I'm picking up Raf and taking him home in a couple of hours." Miko raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Isn't that Bumblebee's job?"

Echo shrugged and stood up straight. "So are you and the yellow bot working together?" Miko pushed mischievously. "Pu-lease," Ratchet shouted from across the room, "Bumblebee and Echo in the same room is enough chaos. Having them work together is impossible."

"True," Jack said, walking up next to Miko. Echo sighed and looked around for Cassy. "Where's Cassy?" As if on cue, the silver Cybertronian wolf sped from the hallway leading to the storage room. She stopped and sat in front of Echo. "Good girl," she said as she petted Cassy's helm.

"Prime!" a voice came from the massive computer in front of Echo. "It's Fowler, Echo go hide somewhere!" Ratchet ordered. Echo and Cassy ran out and hid in the tunnel leading out of the base. "Agent Fowler," Ratchet greeted, turning on the communications channel. The humans went over to the TV area, smart enough to not say anything about the two new Autobots.

Echo sighed. She has been hiding from Fowler's surprise calls for about a month now, since Optimus did not yet have the chance to introduce her and Cassy.

"Tell Prime that we've picked up a strange signal, likely Cybertronian," Fowler said, clicking a button. "I'm sending you the coordinates right now."

"Thank you, Agent Fowler," Ratchet said, turning off the transmission. "Okay, you can come out now," he turned to look where Echo had been hiding. The femme sighed in relief and waved her pet along. Miko and Jack petted the wolf as she lifted her head to where they were leaning on a rail. Echo accessed the computer by Ratchet and checked the coordinates. "It's just the same place Optimus is right now," she said. "Good, I thought we would have to call for back up," Ratchet went back to working.

Half an hour later, Optimus contacted the base for a groundbridge. Echo activated it and the team walked in. The femme looked at Bumblebee. "So, did you go after the energon?" she asked coldly when she saw him glare at her. _"Oh, go pick up Raf and leave me the frag alone,"_ he buzzed. Optimus cleared his throat and turned to Echo. "There was energon, but a little incident happened and neither side gained anything," he said. Echo frowned as she got ready to go pick up Raf, "So there were Cons there?"

The red and blue mech nodded and gestured for Echo to get on her way. When the femme left, he turned to Bumblebee and narrowed his optics at the young soldier. "Bumblebee, it would be wise if you would take to being friendly with our fellow Autobot," he said in a commanding tone, not as a suggestion, but as a request.

_"__Sorry, Optimus,"_ Bumblebee scowled, _"But that will never happen."_ Prime shook his helm as the scout sauntered away.

Echo pulled up to the house at 9:10 and turned off her engines. Sighing, she fixed her side-view mirrors to see a purple car pull up behind her. "Con," Echo whispered to herself. As the cycles went by, the car stayed behind Echo, waiting. Raf finally left the house with his backpack.

He hopped into Echo and was about to say something when she shushed him. "Raf, we have a Con following us," she said as the boy turned around and looked through Echo's back window at the purple car. He gulped and nodded, "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to drop you off somewhere and call base while I take care of him," she started her engine and slowly made her way out of the neighborhood, the Con following right behind her. Raf sat in his seat nervously as the femme made her way towards an old road leading towards the desert. She made a sharp turn and dropped Raf off by a sign, telling him to stay there. She then turned and ran towards the Con, who transformed and began firing at her.

Raf looked in the opposite direction and saw three purple vehicles headed their way.

Echo punched the Con in the helm and hit him in the chassis with her knee. Giving him one last uppercut, she jumped up and kicked him down. The Vehicon's optics offlined and he went limp. The black femme turned around and saw three Decepticons transforming in front of her. At once, they fired at Echo. She backflipped over and over until they stopped firing and ran towards her.

Smirking, she activated her gun and shot a mech at his spark, offlining him. The other two punched, missing when the femme ducked. Echo kicked one of them in the back, sending him spiraling to the ground. The other Con grabbed her servo and punched her chest. Blinking, Echo cried out as his foot kicked her in the stomach. She punched him in the jaw and kicked his chest. Then she activated both of her guns and shot both mechs at the same time.

"Let's go," she said to Raf, transforming to take him home. "That was awesome!" the human child exclaimed. "Thank you," Echo said as she caught her breath. The Autobot took Raf home and then turned around back to base.

The doors to the secret bunker opened and Echo drove inside. Ratchet looked at the scratches on her as she changed into her bi-pedal form. "What happened?" he asked, concerned. "I ran into a few Cons while taking Raf home," she answered, holding her sore side. _"Is Raf alright?"_ Bumblebee asked, not showing concern towards the hurting femme. "Of course," Echo said as she walked past the yellow mech, hurt written all over her face. The scout softened a bit and looked up and down. _"Are you alright?"_ he bleeped, surprising himself and everyone else in the room. Echo turned around and answered calmly, "I'll be fine."

The femme went over to the medbay, where Ratchet scanned her for injuries. "Just a good hit to the side, nothing to worry about," he mumbled, still shocked at Bumblebee's kindness towards Echo. "Thanks Ratch," she looked over at Bumblebee, who had his servos crossed over his chest, staring out the tunnel she came through. _What a strange mech._

**Song: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit**


	3. Scraplets!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs: Echo and Cassy. **

**Chapter 3**

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee," Optimus called out. The yellow scout and the green mech walked up to their leader, who handed them a scanner. "We've detected a signal in the Arctic, and I need you two to go and find whatever is out there."

"Yes, sir," Bulk said, taking the scanner as the groundbridge opened. Echo folded her servos and watched as the two mech headed out. Bumblebee turned around and looked at Echo briefly. She lifted her head up and he went through the bridge. "At least you're not bickering every time you two are in the same room," Optimus said, noticing the exchange between the two. Echo nodded, "Not when others are around." The mech gave her a weird look and walked away.

Ratchet grumbled as the groundbridge control sparked. "Again?" Echo walked over to the medic and opened the system hatch underneath it. Wires were bunched up and out of place. The black fembot sat down and began plugging the cords back into the correct outputs. The groundbridge opened when she reconnected a red wire, and she grunted. Slamming the door to the system shut, she attempted to shut the groundbridge off.

"It's been acting up for months," Ratchet commented, typing a password into the control, which automatically closed the bridge. "Thanks for helping," the medic mumbled, tapping the hatch. Echo nodded and walked over to Cassy, who was lying on top of the medical berth. "C'mon you know you're not supposed to be on there," she said as her pet maximal got off the berth and sat at her feet. "Oh don't give me those puppy eyes," Cassy continued to pant and smile at Echo. The femme rolled her optics and transformed. Whistling to Cassy, the wolf transformed into a motorcycle and activated her holoform. The two drove out of the base for a ride.

Team Prime stood in the hangar bay, looking at the giant Cybertronian pod Bulkhead and Bumblebee found. "Well then," Echo said, staring at how large the object was. Ratchet lifted an optic ridge and looked it up and down, "I have never seen anything like it."

Bumblebee stepped forward and smashed his fists together, _"I say we break it open and see what's inside."_ Echo rolled her optics and faced him, "Really? It's frozen shut. If we try and break it, we might lose whatever's inside." The scout scowled at Echo, _"Fine then."_

Optimus looked between the bots and grunted. "Bumblebee, Bulkhead. You two should go pick up the children," he said, turning to Arcee, "You and I will check the area in which this was found to see if we can get some answers." The two-wheeler shrugged as Bumblebee and Bulkhead left the hangar. Arcee and Optimus left as well.

Ratchet and Echo continued to stare at the pod in wonder. "You broke the record," Ratchet said as he turned to go to his work station. "What record?" Echo asked over her shoulder. "How long you and Bumblebee can go without fighting," the medic chuckled as he heard a growl from the femme. "Come along, we need to prepare Arcee and Optimus' trip."

Echo sighed and followed Ratchet back to the medbay. When they reached there, Echo typed in the coordinates onto the ground bridge control, which was still acting up. "For Primus sake!" the femme yelled out in Cybertronian. She pounded the tech and it beeped, accepting the information. Echo sighed in relief and walked over to help Ratchet.

By the time the two Autobots were ready to go, Bumblebee and Bulkhead returned with Jack, Miko, and Raf. "Shouldn't they be in school?" Ratchet asked, not wanting to deal with more beings. "On a Saturday?" Miko laughed. Echo smirked, "C'mon, Ratch, they can't be that disruptive. Plus, Bulkhead and I will watch them while Prime and 'Cee are gone." Bumblebee lifted his arms up and glared at her, _"What about me?"_

Echo turned back to Ratchet with an irritated look, "And the scout, too." The yellow mech walked past her. Optimus and Arcee went through the groundbridge and the kids asked Bumblebee and Bulkhead what they wanted to do. _"How about we have a video game tournament?"_ Bumblebee asked, pretending to play on a controller with his hands. Raf agreed, but Ratchet called out to them. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, over here now!"

Miko challenged Jack to a video game while Ratchet ordered Bulk and Bumblebee to remove the floor panels under the groundbridge. _"How come Echo doesn't have to help?"_ Bumblebee complained as he moved the metal. Echo frowned at him and flicked her tail in anger, "Because I'm trying to fix the slagging groundbridge."

The yellow mech rolled his optics and stared at her. _"You're doing a great job,"_ he beeped sarcastically. Echo hissed at him and continuing examining the wiring. She saw Raf walking away from the other humans and she approached him. "Raf," she paused as he looked up at her, "Are you going somewhere?" He shook his head and looked at Miko and Jack playing. "I'm just going to go for a walk," he smiled at his friend and kept going. "Okay, let me know when you're done. I could use your help," Echo smiled and returned to her work.

_"__Let him be, he's just a kid,"_ Bumblebee chirped, pulling off the last panel. Echo ignored him and watched as the control sparked and smoked. Bulkhead nudged Bumblebee and gave him a warning glance, which softened the mech's glare.

The four bots looked up as the lights went out. "That's not fair!" Jack yelled from across the room. "Awww," Miko whined sarcastically. Echo turned to Ratchet as her brow furrowed, "Power failure?" The medic glanced up at the lights, his brow creasing as well, "The ground bridge couldn't have messed with that."

The femme walked over to an open hatch on the floor. "Ratchet!" she exclaimed, pulling out a chip that had multiple bite marks through it. The medic knelt down and grabbed one for himself. "We definitely have a problem," he said, inspecting the chip. "What could have caused this?" Echo asked, placing her chip back and standing up. Bumblebee stood next to her, looking her up and down. The femme didn't notice him, as the lights went out again. "Substation malfunction?" she asked, looking down as Raf walked in.

"Hey guys!" the child exclaimed, carrying something in his hands. "We're busy!" Ratchet rolled his optics and glared at Raf. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Echo screamed, bumping into Bumblebee, who activated his gun and pointed it at the object in Raf's hands. "Whoa," Miko and Jack stepped in front of the kid, holding up their hands. "What's wrong?"

"Scraplet!" Echo screamed again, causing Bumblebee to cover his audio receptors. The femme activated her own guns, still standing up against the scout. Her optics were wide with fear and her tail froze in place.

"That's the most dangerous vermin to ever exist on the face of Cybertron," Ratchet said, standing up a little straighter. Echo hissed and relaxed a bit, though keeping her weapon up. "This?" Jack chuckled, gesturing towards the scraplet.

The scraplet woke up and stared at the Autobots. Echo screamed again and watched as it scanned them and attacked Bumblebee. She shot at the creature but it dodged her shots. Bumblebee did the same has the scraplet hopped onto his leg and began eating the metal off of him. He grabbed for it with his servo, only to have it continue to chew on him. Echo swiped her tail at the scraplet, causing it to fly off Bumblebee and onto the floor several yards away.

Raf then beat the creature down with a crowbar. Echo sighed and looked down at the yellow mech, who was glancing at her in surprise for saving him. _"Thanks?"_ he beeped with an optic ridge lifted. The black femme rolled her eyes and watched as the children stopped Raf from mercilessly beating the already dead scraplet.

Raf gasped and ran over to the scene and looked up at his guardian with concern. "Bumblebee I'm so sorry," he exclaimed. Echo knelt down and placed a comforting hand on his back. "It wasn't your fault, Raf," Bumblebee said as Ratchet examined the scout. "He'll live," the medic grumbled.

Echo whistled to Cassy, who came from recharge in the barracks. "Cassy, laxa de basi nos instar sicco quid est," she ordered her pet in Cybertronian. Cassy nodded and transformed into her alt. mode and drove out of the base.

"What'd she say?" Miko asked Raf. "She told Cassy to leave the base while they figure this out," he answered, gesturing the tunnel leading of the bunker. Echo returned to the conversation. "There's never just one," Ratchet said to the children. He turned to Echo and narrowed his optics, "We could have used Cassy to find their hive." The black femme shook her helm and stood up, "No. She would have gone nuts and tried to eat them."

_"__She could at least help us find them,"_ Bumblebee bleeped, rolling his optics. The femme sighed and activated her comlink. "Revertere."

_"__Awesome, you listen for a change,"_ Bumblebee mumbled to himself. Echo glared at him and snarled. The motorcycle appeared back into base and Cassy pawed over and sat next to her owner. Echo snapped her fingers and her wolf followed her as she knelt down and pointed to the scrapped scraplet. The femme pointed in the direction of the hangar bay and whistled, "Quaere illos."

The wolf sniffed the scraplet and her optics darkened. She howled and ran off, hunter mode active. _"Told you,"_ Bumblebee laughed. "Donec vel pede off ruminare ego sum eam," Echo hissed, following in direction her pet went.

"I have a feeling I know where they came from," Ratchet said. The Autobots made their way towards the hangar bay were the pod was been stored. Cassy was circling it, growling. Echo calmed her down and watched as Ratchet inspected the pod. "An empty scraplet trap," Bulkhead said nervously. "There could be thousands," Echo growled, narrowing her optics. Cassy's armor rose, making her look more threatening. "Now they're here and ready to feed," Miko said, eyes wide.

"We must contact Optimus," Ratchet made his way towards the main facility. "This is a dire emergency."

"The comm is scrapped," Ratchet said, pounding the computer. Echo walked over and attempted to override the systems. She typed as fast as she could, earning an admiring look from Miko. "Optimus and Arcee will perish and the base will be reduced to a scrapheap if we don't get rid of those creatures," Echo mumbled as the computer fizzled.

"Let us help," the humans pleaded. Ratchet and Bulkhead agreed. "One bot per human?" Jack suggested. Raf looked up at Echo, "Will you come with me and 'Bee?"

Echo looked at his guardian, who crossed his servos and looked away. "I'll come," the femme smiled at the young boy.

"We're going on a bug hunt!" Miko said. Bulk, Echo, and Bumblebee turned to each other and shuddered in fear. Echo whimpered and her ears flattened. Ratchet handed each bot a flashlight and waved them off.

Once the group came upon and intersection, Bumblebee stopped. _"Bulk, you and Miko go that way, and we'll go this way,_" Bumblebee pointed in opposite directions. The green mech nodded slightly and gulped. Echo whistled for Cassy to go to the hangar bay, in case the scraplets are there. "Primus help us," Echo sighed, watching as Raf walked in front of her and Bumblebee.

_"__It's just vermin,"_ Bumblebee buzzed. Echo rolled her optics, folded her servos over her chassis, and stopped. "Look at your leg," she narrowed her optics and flattened her ears in anger, "Sure, they're just vermin." The femme walked in front of Bumblebee, who's doorwings lowered and his face fell.

Cycles later, the trio were walking down another series of hallways when the power went out. Echo screamed and when the power flickered back on, she was it Bumblebee's servos, bridal style. They both turned to each other with wide optics. As Echo scrambled out of his hold, the mech dropped her. She landed on her aft and glared up at him. _"Sorry,"_ he bleeped, holding his hands up, then he narrowed his optics and resumed a hateful glare, _"I mean watch it." _

Raf stared at the dispute with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, let's keep going."

As they did so, Echo heard the pitter patter of metallic feet walking around. Hissing, she looked up and saw a small figure skitter past them. Bumblebee lifted his flashlight where she was staring and shook his helm when he saw nothing, "You're going crazy."

Echo faced him and pushed him up against a wall, "Watch what you say, mech." The femme continued walking and fixated her sensitive ears every time she heard a scraplet. After a while, she commed Cassy to check on her. Raf stayed by her leg while she did so, and Bumblebee stood behind her. "Signa autem eos?" she asked, receiving a whimper from the other line. The fembot grunted and continued walking.

They came around a corner and stopped when they saw that the corridor was chewed up. "We're scrapped," Bumblebee said, kneeling down for a bit. "Don't these things ever stop?" Raf asked rhetorically. "By the AllSpark," Echo exclaimed as she and Bumblebee followed Raf to the end of the hallway. Bumblebee looked behind him and gave Echo a nervous look. She returned it and they walked over to where Raf was inspecting a vent. "Dicendum, quod est, a vultus," Echo said to the scout. He nudged Raf out of the way and pulled the cover off.

The two Autobots pointed their weapons at the vent while Raf held up a crowbar. "What's that sound?" Echo asked as footsteps could be heard behind them. The trio looked behind them at a grate in the floor. "Oh, scrap."

Dozens of scraplets emerged from the grate and came after Echo and Bumblebee. The two Autobots shot at the creatures side by side. One managed to climb onto Echo and she tried to flick it off. The vermin chewed up her leg and jumped onto the other one. The scout turned and shot the scraplet off of her.

They both called out in terror as the scraplets flew up and leapt onto them. _"We need to run!"_ Bumblebee shoved Echo down the hallway and gestured for Raf to follow them.

"Bulk!" Echo shouted as they rounded a corner and met up with the Wrecker. "We need to get to Ratchet!" The five ran down the hallways and into the main part of the base. "Ratchet, we're-" Bulkhead was cut off when he saw a swarm of scraplets. Bumblebee and Echo jumped down the staircase and gazed up at the swarm.

The scraplets saw the new bots and went after them. They latched onto Echo and began eating her. "Echo!" Raf screamed as his friend fell down and attempted to free herself. Bumblebee shot at the scraplets who were on the femme and the ones coming after him. They maneuvered around the mech and took him down, the same happening to Bulkhead. Echo screamed in agony as one scraplet went underneath her armor and began eating her protoform.

Everyone turned when they heard a howl and saw Cassy jump down the staircase and bat at the scraplets. A mini-gun appeared from her back and she began firing at the creatures, standing protectively over Echo. The scraplet who was underneath Echo's armor came out and pounced onto the wolf. Hundreds of other scraplets swarmed around the maximal and attacked her as well.

All of the Autobots screamed in pain. Echo's optics began to go offline. She went limp and let the blackness take over her. When she opened her eyes, she was lying in a heap next to Bumblebee, who was shaking her awake. "I'm up," she grunted, holding a servo over her abdomen.

Cassy limped over to the black femme and whined. Echo petted her and had her lay down. "Good girl," she praised as the maximal rested her head in her owner's lap. Bumblebee glanced down at the two and lifted and optic ridge before looking away.

"Those were just scouts," Ratchet said, slightly sitting up. Bumblebee fell backwards and rested against the wall they were resting by.

Echo muted the conversation from her audio receptors, the pain starting to blur everything. She pointed her ears in Ratchet's direction when she heard the word "shopping". "Sub-zero temperatures should freeze them," the medic grumbled as he thought. "Think, why would the groundbridge still be down."

"A breach in the energon fuel line?" Echo inquired with a smirk. Ratchet smiled and sat up. _"Are you slagging kidding me?"_ Bumblebee said as he fell backwards again. "Where do we find it?" Jack asked, holding up a fire extinguisher. "And how do we fix it?" Raf stepped forward.

"Be careful," Echo closed her optics and leaned back next to the yellow scout. _Primus, help us._

"We'll need bait," Ratchet said to Bulkhead as they formed a plan. "The scraplets have already eaten everything!" Bulkhead protested.

Echo sighed and shifted, wincing from pain, "He means we need a bot to go out there." Bumblebee sat up and lifted an optic ridge. "I'll go," Echo stood up and walked towards the groundbridge. Bumblebee glared at her, shaking his helm. She ignored him and waited. "Ratchet, let's go!" The kids said as they ran into the room, scraplets following them.

"Groundbridge activated," Ratchet pulled the lever and collapsed. Echo swallowed hard and looked up at the swarm. "Hmm, bait?" she laughed to herself and waved her hands. "Hey, scrappies! Come and get it!" she shouted. The swarm looked at her and then flew down. The femme went through the groundbridge, and the scraplets followed her. Bumblebee looked up in concern and watched the swarm going through before Ratchet pushed him down.

Echo coughed as the cold of the Arctic hit her armor. She saw Optimus and Arcee on the other side walking towards her. "Get down!" she yelled as she fell into the snow. The prime and the two-wheeler watched in horror as a swarm of scraplets came through the groundbridge.

Before the creatures could reach the two fresh Autobots, the cold of the Antarctic froze them whole and they plummeted to the ground. Optimus and Arcee looked at Echo with a raised optic ridge. "Hey guys," she coughed, "The base is kind of a mess."

Echo sat next to Bulkhead, a vital scanner attached to her chassis. Raf looked up and smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up. The femme smiled and sighed in relief. Cassy licked her hand and laid down, resting her helm in Echo's lap.

"You should get some rest, old friend," Optimus said to Ratchet, "You saved quite a few lives today." Ratchet looked over at Echo and grinned, and then at the children, "I'm not the only one." The black femme nodded her thanks and watched Cassy fall into recharge. "Are humans friends may be small, but they are strong."

Miko screamed, causing everyone to stare at her. "Spider!" she ran off, attempting to see if it had crawled on her. "Did she just scream like a little girl?" Bulkhead asked. Echo laughed and closed her optics. _"She sounds like a femme I know,"_ Bumblebee said, looking up at Echo. The black Autobot rolled her optics as everyone else laughed. _Oh, I am so going to pummel you. _

**A/N: This story does go through the TFP series and change it up a bit. Let me know if I should do what I did here for every episode, or just specific episodes. I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading!**

**-Echobee**

**Song: "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan (why? idk) **


	4. Reunion

**Disclaimer, I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs, Echo and Cassy. **

**A/N: The foreign language Echo is speaking is actually Latin. If you notice how the Primes are named after Latin words, that's how I came up with the idea that they speak a language similar. Enjoy the show! **

**Chapter 4**

"Uncle Jackie!" Echo exclaimed when the Autobots received his transmission. Bulkhead walked up to the monitor with Miko on his shoulder, excited to see his old friend. _"You know him?"_ Bumblebee asked Echo. She nodded and listened to Wheeljack. "Bulkhead? Echo? Is that you?" the Wrecker asked with a surprised voice, "What's with the security?"

Echo stepped forward, "The rock we're on is crawling with Cons." Bulkhead nodded and laughed, "How soon can you get here and even the playing field?" Wheeljack chuckled, "Sometime tomorrow, maybe. Medal to the pedal like always."

Miko smiled at look down, "Another bot is coming? Cool!" Bulkhead nodded as Optimus began to speak. "I know of Wheeljack only by reputation. Can you verify?"

Echo and Bulkhead smiled. "One thousand percent the real deal!" Bulkhead answered. Echo laughed as Arcee walked up to the two. She turned to Echo and smirked, "So, who's the boyfriend." The black femme gestured for Bulk to explain. While he did, Echo caught Bumblebee looking at Arcee with narrowed optics, and then Echo. She ignored the scout and listened to Bulkhead. _What's his problem? _

"The Cons are going to wish he never found us," Bulk finished with the clashing of his fists. "What's your story with Jackie?" he inquired, looking at the black fembot. "Since I was under Ultra Magnus's command, I went with him when he was put in charge of the Wreckers. I met Wheeljack during a mission," she stopped and looked at Bulkhead, "I never met you because I was sent back to take charge of the Elite Guard in Magnus's absence."

_"__They let you run the big operation?"_ Bumblebee asked, joining the conversation. Echo narrowed her optics, "Yes." Arcee felt a fight coming on and stepped in between them. "Okay, so when was the last you saw of Wheeljack, Bulk," the two-wheeler asked, turning to the green mech.

Echo took one more glance at Bumblebee and then headed off to her room, whistling for Cassy to follow her. The yellow mech crossed his servos and watched her leave, a hateful look on his faceplates.

"Wheeljack will be here soon, let's go get the kids," Bulkhead said to Arcee and Echo. The black femme looked around and didn't see Bumblebee, so she agreed to go.

Once the three were back from picking Jack, Raf, and Miko up, the scanners began to beep. "Wheeljack's ship is approaching," Arcee said, looking at the monitor. Miko jumped with excitement. Echo flickered her tail in the same manor and smiled, waiting by the groundbridge while Bulkhead paced back and forth. "You're going to love Jackie. We were like brothers!"

"When he gets here, it's party time," Echo smirked. The Wreckers have always been the party-type. An alarm went off as Decepticons appeared behind Wheeljack's ship. "Decepticon scum!" Bulkhead shouted. Echo turned to Cassy and clicked with her tongue, "Sta, et præpara calcitrare blandeque coruscant."

"His shipped crashed," Arcee said, optics wide. "Open the bridge!" Ratchet did so. "I'll prepare medbay." Echo laughed, "What for, the Cons?"

Bulkhead, Echo, Cassy, Arcee, and Bumblebee ran through the groundbridge. When they came through, they saw Wheeljack finishing off the last Con. "I could have used a hand," he joked.

"You missed one," Echo pointed out. A Con started to stand up before the white and green mech shot him.

The mech looked at the small group and shook his helm. "This is all you got?" Bulkhead ran over and lifted Wheeljack up in a tight embrace, "Jackie!" Echo laughed and rested her hands on her hips.

The group went back through the groundbridge and watched as the control sparked. The bridge deactivated and Bulkhead walked over to introduce his old friend to Miko. Optimus Prime walked over and welcomed the Wrecker to Team Prime.

"Let's get this party started!" Bulkhead and Wheeljack bumped chests, causing Ratchet to roll his optics in irritation. "Miko, I think you know what to do," Echo smiled as the human grabbed her guitar. "This party is going to rock!" the girl shouted.

Cycles later, Wheeljack and Bulkhead were engaged in an old game of lobbing. Echo watched as they lobbed back and forth with a giant metal ball. Bulkhead turned to the black femme and offered her the ball, "Show Jackie what you can do." Wheeljack lifted up his hands, "Whoa, don't hurt yourself." Echo smirked and took the ball, able to carry it with one servo. She spun around and threw the ball at Wheeljack, who caught it even though he was surprised. "How did you?" the Wrecker stuttered.

Echo lifted an optic ridge, "Remember, we all used to lob during leave." Wheeljack shook his helm and smiled, "Sorry, forgot." The femme nodded, although she was still suspicious. She walked over and listened to Miko playing her guitar.

"Raf, show us some moves," Miko said to her friend. Raf got up and began doing the robot. Echo and Jack smiled. Bumblebee stood up and studied his charge's moves before doing them himself. Echo laughed as the two danced together. "Echo," Raf waved her over with his hand, "C'mon." The femme's ears pricked up in alarm. She looked at Bumblebee, who shrugged. Smirking, the femme walked behind Raf and memorized the moves. She lifted her arms up and copied the human's moves. "Nice moves, Echo," Miko called to her. Bumblebee looked at the femme and rolled his optics.

Bulkhead lobbed the ball too hard and Wheeljack couldn't grab it. The ball hit the wall and crashed into the groundbridge control. Ratchet shouted in frustration. "Sorry Doc," Jackie said as he went over and picked up the lobbing ball.

Raf looked up at Echo while she narrowed her optics at Wheeljack. Her sensitive ears picked up the conversation between the two. Bumblebee frowned at her and nudged her, _"What are you doing?"_ The femme ignored him and continued watching the medic and the Wrecker. As Wheeljack walked away, the expression on his face made Echo the more suspicious. "Hmm," she resumed a calm face and looked down at Raf. "How was school today?" she asked politely. Raf forgot about the last couple of minutes and smiled a bit before rubbing the back of his neck, "Kind of stressful."

Echo knelt down and tilted her helm, "Why?" Bumblebee crossed his servos and at the femme, _"School is stressful."_

The black female looked up, "I was talking to Raf. I'm just trying to be nice and see what's wrong." Bumblebee got in her face as she stood up, _"That's my job."_

"Well, you're not doing it right," Echo snarled.

Raf placed a hand on both bot's feet. He looked at Echo and frowned, "I was bullied today." Both Autobot's optics widened as they looked down at the human boy. _"Raf, why didn't you tell me?"_ Bumblebee knelt down, optics filled with concern. "Because I wanted to tell both of you," Raf answered, looking down at his feet.

"Why?" The scout and Echo asked at the same time. Before Raf could say anything, Bulkhead walked over to them with a big grin on his face. "We're going to tell some tales," the green mech waved them over. Raf's guardian gave him a 'we'll talk about this later' look.

Echo stood next to Bumblebee as Wheeljack and Bulkhead, mostly Bulk, told the kids about their Wrecker adventures. "Yeah, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my backside," Bulk laughed. "Not surprising, given the size of your backside," Echo commented with a smirk. Bumblebee laughed and relaxed. Echo noticed Wheeljack staring at Ratchet, who was still fixing the groundbridge. She tensed up as Bulkhead noticed it too. "Are you okay?" he asked his old buddy.

"What do you mean?" the Wrecker looked away from Ratchet. "You seem quiet," Echo said with narrowed optics. "I've been stuck in a can for too long," Wheeljack covered up, "I need to go topside and stretch."

"Okay, we'll go on patrol in the morning," Bulkhead dropped his suspicions. "How about now?" the white and green mech suggested. "And break up the party?" Bulk asked as Wheeljack turned around. "The gang loves you."

"How about if Miko shows me around the base," the Wrecker turned to Bulkhead's charge. "Sure," Bulkhead said as Miko waved him along. Echo looked at Cassy and whistled her over, "Follow him." Bulkhead and Arcee didn't hear the order, but Bumblebee did. "_What are you doing?"_ he asked, pulling Echo by the shoulder. "Aren't you the least bit suspicious?" she replied as Cassy left. _"Maybe, but that doesn't mean we should spy on him,"_ Bumblebee chirped with a frown.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You still think I'm a pit-spawned traitor," Echo shoved Bumblebee and walked away. The yellow mech's expression loosened.

The femme walked over to Bulkhead as he finished a conversation with Arcee. "Are you suspicious, too?" she asked, looking in direction Wheeljack walked off in. "Yeah, did you have Cassy follow him?" Bulk answered, optics narrowed. "Of course," she said, watching her wolf enter the same hallway. "Good," the green mech turned to her, "He was so distant. That's not like Wheeljack. No matter how long it's been, there's something wrong."

Echo nodded her helm and turned to look at Bumblebee, who was talking with Raf.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked Bulk, who was become a big brother to her in the time they've known each other. He gestured for her to continue and she sighed. "Why does your scout still not trust me? I thought I proved myself loyal to you all. He still seems to hate me," she said, narrowing her optic shudders at the yellow male.

Bulkhead lightly chuckled and crossed his servos. "I don't think he's being hostile because he hates you," the lug answered, walking away. Echo lifted an optic ridge and shook it off. _Hmm… _

By the time Miko and Wheeljack returned, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Echo were discussing again how weird the situation was. "I was just telling the guys about Darkmount Pass," Bulkhead lied. "Hell of a story, Bulk," Wheeljack started getting nervous. "Tell it," Bulkhead and Echo demanded at the same time. "Nah, let's go riding," Miko said, not having any suspicions at all.

"Miko, stay out of this!" her guardian snapped. "Bulkhead," Arcee soothed, trying to placate the big green mech. _"Echo, drop it,"_ Bumblebee said. The femme hissed at him and continued to glare at Wheeljack. "Tell it," the femme ordered, baring her teeth. Wheeljack rolled his optics, "Fine."

"The Wreckers were trapped between a smelting pit and the Cons. Bulk and I held them off. We scrapped them and used their backsides to cross the magma. Ain't that how it happened, Bulk?" The Wrecker finished. Echo smirked, "Yeah." She turned to Bulkhead. "Oh yeah," he then switched to a glare, "except I wasn't there!"

All of the other Autobots gasped and stared at "Wheeljack". Echo snarled and stepped towards the mech, "Anyone could have accessed Wheeljack's records to tell that tale. Bulk had already departed to go with Optimus."

"Bulk, what does that have to do wi-" Miko screamed as "Wheeljack" picked her up. Cassy jumped up, but was smacked down by the Con. He ran over to the bridge control, "Stay back!"

Echo hissed and activated her battlemask. "Makeshift!" she yelled. The Con holding Miko chuckled, "Ah, it's good to see you again. How did the funeral go for, what's her name, Deadspark?" The black femme growled and was about to attack Makeshift when he threatened to hurt Miko.

The Con opened up the groundbridge to the Decepticon warship and smiled, "Let's get this party started!" What he didn't see was the real Wheeljack coming up behind him. He rammed into the Con as Miko went flying into Bulkhead's hand. "You better close that groundbridge," the Wrecker stated, putting his swords back.

Makeshift and Wheeljack faced each other and brought out their swords. They circled and sized each other up. Echo deactivated her battlemask and watched the showdown. Suddenly, they attacked each other. They sliced at each other before the real Wheeljack caught the upper hand.

Ratchet walked over to turn the groundbridge back on. "Will you do the honors of taking out the trash?" Wheeljack turned to Bulkhead. The green Wrecker picked up the Con and threw him through the portal as it opened.

The groundbridge closed. "Wait, does he know the location of our base?" Arcee asked. Echo laughed and walked over to Wheeljack. She tapped the back of her hand on the grenade he always carried with him, "I made sure they don't have enough time to learn."

"That's my girl," Wheeljack ruffled her ears. Bulkhead embraced the real Jackie. "Good to be here," the Wrecker said as the green mech put him down.

Miko walked up to them with her guitar, "Let's party!"

Ratchet grumbled as Miko played her guitar. Bumblebee and Raf continued dancing while Arcee and Echo looked on. Cassy treaded over to her owner and tugged on her hand, pulling her over to where Bumblebee and Raf were. Echo looked down at the wolf with a smirk as her pet budded into her, causing her to bump into Bumblebee. The mech didn't say anything and just looked at her.

"What's one more dance partner?" Raf said. His guardian looked down at him before smiling. He shrugged and kept dancing, he looked at Echo, "Eh, why not?" Echo lightly laughed and joined the two in their boogie.

Arcee shook her helm and walked away. _Those two are so weird._

Looking up at his friend, Raf lifted an eyebrow, "Who's, uh, Deadspark?" Echo stopped dancing and looked away, coolant filling her optics. Bumblebee stopped as well and looked the femme up and down. "Bluespark," Echo corrected, "was my sister."

_"__What do you mean 'was'?"_ Bumblebee asked calmly. The black femme looked at him with narrowed optics, "As in she died." Echo walked away while Cassy stood there, whining. Bumblebee frowned and watched her leave.

**Song: "The Reason" by Hoobastank**


	5. Dingus

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs, Echo, Cassy, and Bluespark. **

**Chapter 5**

"They're after the dingus," Agent Fowler said as he sat in his crashed jet. Echo walked in and stood next to Arcee who asked, "A what's it?" Fowler explained and then turned to the black Autobot. "Wait, who's she?" Echo's lip plates formed a thin line and her optics widened, "Oops."

"Agent Fowler," Optimus gestured a hand towards Echo, "This is my lieutenant, designation Echo." The femme put her hands on her hips and looked at Prime with an optic ridge raised. "Lieutenant?"

"Nice to meet you," the agent smiled, "But could you help me get this thing out of here before it blows up this state and the neighboring four?" Raf gulped and leaned over the rail, "Uh, which state is he in?"

"We cannot groundbridge the dingus in case there's an accident," Prime said, "The radiation could cause the groundbridge vortex to implode and blow up all fifty states and beyond." Agent Fowler though for a moment, "Got any other ideas?"

Optimus looked at Echo, who was smirking. She stepped forward, "I do believe I have a plan."

Team Prime picked up Agent Fowler in their vehicle modes. Fowler entered Prime's truck. "Echo, you and Bumblebee guard the trailer," the prime said as he made his way onto the road.

The yellow muscle car and the black Dodge Charger followed Prime while Bulkhead came up behind them. Fowler honked Optimus' horn as a truck slowed down in front of them. "Ugh, is he going to stop?" Echo muttered in the comm channel she, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead shared. "I hope so, my audio receptors are ringing," Bulk responded.

_"__Just focus on the road,"_ Bumblebee snapped. Echo slowed down in front of him. He bumped into her car before stopping. "You should do the same," Echo retorted as she sped up. "Will you two stop bickering?" Bulkhead sighed.

"Echo, Bumblebee, take to the front," Optimus commed to them. The black Charger sped up and moved in front of Prime, the muscle car doing the same.

A helicopter hovered above the group. "Look up, we've got company," Echo commed to Optimus. "Watch your rear views," Bulkhead added. Echo's engine growled as matching green and black sports cars surrounded her friend. "Remain in vehicular mode unless absolutely necessary," Prime ordered.

Echo's side view mirror fixated on a car that separated from the group and made her way towards Optimus. "'Bee, look." The yellow muscle car's engine revved and Bumblebee bleeped through the link, _"One is coming up in front of us." _

Echo hissed as a green car sped up and moved in front of Bumblebee. The yellow mech maneuvered onto the opposite road and tried to get past him, but the car swerved over. Echo took the opportunity to back up and fill the spot next to Bumblebee, blocking the green sports car from Optimus. "Our assailants are human," the red and blue mech said.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Echo called out as a human came out of the sports car and tried to pull them over. The car in front of her and 'Bee tried to move over a lane and get to Optimus' cabin, but Echo moved to her right, blocking him. Her gas pedal slammed down as she rammed into the car, sending it forwards. Bumblebee drove into the lane next to her, in front of Prime.

"Autobots, maintain your cover," their leader spoke through the comm. channel, "And apply minimal force. Disarm 'em and only."

Echo watched as the green sports car went to the left of Bumblebee, the yellow muscle car blocking him from going backwards. "Echo, watch out behind you," Bulk warned. Echo went to the far right lane and slowed down as a green car tried to terminate Prime's wheels. She crashed into the car and drove forwards and positioned herself in front of the truck. When the car came into the lane next to her, she smashed into it sending them swerving off the road.

"Be careful, the road is getting more twisted," Echo warned, recovering from her crash. _"I'll take point,"_ Bumblebee said, driving in front of the black car. The femme's engines roared in annoyance. "Optimus, they're behind your cabin!" she warned her leader. The mech drove right, causing the human to lose his balance. The car to Optimus' left was knocked off the road as he swerved left.

Agent Fowler got out of the cabin to get rid of the human who was still on the truck.

Echo heard an explosion and gasped, "What the slag was that?" Bumblebee internally frowned and kept driving, "Just keep moving." Thinking, Echo smirked, "Arcee, I think you have an appointment with a green car." The sound of a motorcycle and a car flipping over filled the comm. channel. The car exploded and knocked the other cars off course. Arcee laughed, "The doctor wasn't in town."

"Bummer," Echo chuckled. Arcee slowed down once she was driving along side Echo.

Eventually, the Autobots were driving next to the train tracks, the train going the same speed as they. "Keep a tight formation," Optimus' baritone voice ordered. Arcee jumped off the road and continued on beside the moving train. Echo and Bumblebee did the same with Optimus and Bulkhead following them at a slower pace. Optimus took the position behind Arcee as the train went under the tunnel.

As the sports cars went after the Autobots, Bulkhead transformed and shot the top of the tunnel, blocking them out.

Arcee transformed and got into the trailer while Bumblebee and Echo jumped on top of the train. Bumblebee knocked on the entrance to a train car and waited.

"We're good to go," Echo shouted to Prime, who sped up alongside the train out of the tunnel. The yellow mech changed back into a muscle car and followed Optimus, the black femme doing the same. Arcee took point next to the truck, being back in her alt. mode.

"For Primus sake!" The Charger called out as Decepticon Seekers came into view. A Con shot the connection to Prime and his trailer, and it rolled across the road. The Seekers shot at the trailer and it exploded.

The Autobots came to a cliff and turned around to fight the Decepticons. They transformed, Optimus holding a sickly looking Fowler in his hands. He placed the agent atop a hill and ordered him to stay there.

"It'll feel good to stretch my gears and kick Con tailpipe!" Bulkhead shouted. "I could use some action," Echo snarled and ran towards the Cons. She chose her target and jumped up, punching the Con square in the jaw. He recoiled and swipe a fist at the femme. She ducked and spun around, kicking the Seeker in his chassis. He swiped again, this time more clumsily. Echo hissed and threw an uppercut.

She stumbled when she felt someone back up into her. The femme glanced over her shoulder and saw a determine scout fighting a Con. He looked back at her. They both stared up at the Cons from the other fight, and then nodded to each other. Bumblebee ran over and punched the Con Echo was fighting, and she did the same to the one he was fighting.

Echo grunted as the purple mech hit her in the face. She looked back at him, growling. She kicked him in the groin, causing the Con to fall to his knees. The black Autobot pulled her fist back and knocked the Con down.

Bumblebee was still fighting the other Seeker. He punched but missed and the Con kicked the scout backwards next to Echo. The black femme activated her battlemask as the Autobots backed up towards the edge of the cliff. Echo looked down and saw Optimus lying unconscious. The remaining Decepticons ran towards the Autobots. Three jumped onto Bulkhead, while the others engaged Bumblebee, Arcee, and Echo.

Bumblebee was knocked down onto the ground. The Con aimed his weapon at the scout. Echo kicked the bot she was fighting into him, causing the two purple mechs to fall into a heap. She screamed out in pain as a Seeker grabbed her by her tail and threw her several yards away. Bumblebee stood up and punched the mech several times before he finally knocked him out.

Arcee ran over to Echo as two Cons approached her. She shot them down and helped her friend up. "Thank you," Echo said, deactivating her battlemask. Bulkhead finished off the last Con and the group walked over to each other. "Where's Optimus?" Arcee asked.

"He had a train to catch," Fowler answered, looking over the cliff.

_"__You did alright,"_ Bumblebee said to Echo, though not looking at her. The femme punched his arm and crossed her servos. "I would have done better if you hadn't bumped into me," she smirked, rolling her optics.

_"__You wanna go?"_ the yellow scout threatened, holding his fists up. "You want a piece of me?" Echo activated her battlemask and got in the mech's face. "Okay you two," Bulkhead lifted both Autobots off the ground and placed them in different directions. "Playtime is over."

**Song: "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter **


	6. Punishment

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs, Echo, Cassy, and Bluespark. **

**Chapter 6**

The groundbridge opened and Team Prime came back from an energon scouting. "What's with the long faces?" Ratchet asked as he saw Bulkhead and Optimus shake their helms. The large red and blue mech pointed with his thumb at the two young Autobots behind them. Echo and Bumblebee have been bickering again. "What is it this time?" the medic demanded, rolling his optics. Arcee and Bulkhead transformed to go pick up the humans while Optimus nudged a seething Echo and a stubborn Bumblebee over to Ratchet.

"Ehem?" the red and white doctor folded his servos over his chest and glared at the two.

_"__She's the one who started it and gave away our position." _

"He's the one who started the fight and got us caught!" Both bots started yelling at the same time.

Ratchet held up a hand, which silenced them. "Your fighting and bickering is getting old," he snapped, "the two of you need to figure this out and learn to be at least tolerant of each other." Echo smirked and laughed, "_Him?_ Being _nice?_ Don't count your blessings, Ratch." The yellow scout gave her a look like he was going to rip her spark chamber out and make her choke on it. _"Says the femme who punches me every time I compliment her."_ Echo rolled her optics and bared her teeth at him, "Because you're mocking me! Don't think I don't understand sarcasm when I see it."

"Yipyip," Ratchet grumbled, praying to Primus, "That's it! The two of you are going to have to work together from now on! You both go to pick up Raf. Both of you are his guardians now. You go together on patrol and share other responsibilities." His chest puffed up with indignation. Bumblebee and Echo looked at each other, at first with hate, then with irritation. "I swear, if I hear you two bicker one more time, I'll make you hold hands!" the medic turned around and continued with his work, dismissing them.

Echo grunted and Bumblebee buzzed a sigh, but after they turned around to leave, Ratchet stopped them. "And," he earned a groan from the scout and the femme, "You will share a room from now on."

"What?" Echo yelled, optics wide with shock. _"Wait, I have to see her not only every day, but all day?"_ Bumblebee chirped. Ratchet nodded and the scout fell backwards, passing out. The black femme lifted an optic ridge and looked at the medic, "Please tell me he's not getting up."

Jack and Miko were practically rolling on the floor with laughter. Bulkhead tried his best to hold in a chuckle, but failed. Arcee stood with a smirk on her face, shaking her helm. Raf sat on the couch, giving a sympathetic look towards Bumblebee and Echo. The two bots stood by each other, servos crossed and anger written on their faceplates. "Y-You have to what?" Bulkhead asked, holding his helm as he laughed.

"Share a room," Echo mumbled between gritted teeth. "And Optimus agreed to this?" Arcee inquired, not helping the situation at all. The black femme nodded and flicked her tail. Jack tried to stand up, calming down a bit, "This is too funny."

_"__No, it's torture,"_ Bumblebee bleeped, _"I have to spend my entire day with a glitch."_ Everyone stopped and made an "Ooo" sound as Echo activated her battlemask and grabbed the mech by his chassis. "What did you say?" she demanded. Cassy stood behind Bumblebee, armor fluffing up as she snarled at the yellow mech.

_"__You heard me,"_ Bumblebee didn't seem threatened. "Break it up before Ratchet makes you hold hands," Bulkhead grabbed the two and shoved them apart. His comment sent Jack and Miko into another round of laughter. Bumblebee stormed off and transformed. He headed out the base, sending a bloom of exhaust as he departed. "Echo, you're supposed to go with him," Ratchet shouted from his work station. Bulkhead and Miko snickered as the femme backflipped and transformed into a Charger. She sped through the tunnel. "Ratch never said anything about beating Bumblebee up."

When Bumblebee and Echo came back from their "drive", Bulkhead and Miko were going through the groundbridge. "What's up, Ratch?" Echo asked when she changed into her bi-pedal form. "Bulkhead and Miko are scouting an energon signal in Greece," he answered, "So, how was your drive."

_"__Tense,"_ Bumblebee bleeped as he stomped past Echo, glaring at her. She smirked at him and turned back to Ratchet. "Shouldn't you be moving your things into Bumblebee's room?" the medic asked, lightly chuckling to himself.

"Pft. No," Echo rolled her optics and cocked her hip out. Bumblebee groaned and beeped something Echo couldn't hear. "Bumblebee," Ratchet called out, stopping the mech in his tracks, "Go help Echo move her things into your room."

_"__Ugh,"_ Bumblebee moaned, doorwings lowered. He chirped something along the lines of _"pit-spawned, fragging, slagger medic, aft head"_. The black femme followed him to the barracks. Bumblebee's room was across the hall from Echo's, so the move wasn't too difficult. Echo opened the door to her quarters and turned the light on. The yellow mech looked around, not having ever seen it before. _"What's that?"_ he pointed to a giant mattress lying on the floor next to Echo's berth.

"That's Cassy's bed," she walked over to a shelf where most of her possessions were, "We need to move it to your room as well." The scout beeped a response.

Echo grabbed an old sword and a set of leg armor. She gestured for Bumblebee to grab the other things on the shelf: a few worn out guns and some Cybertronian tech. _"What's the sword for?"_ he asked, holding as much as he could without dropping anything. "It's my father's," Echo answered, leaving the room. She waited for Bumblebee to hand her a few things so he could unlock the door. Once he did, he let the femme go in first.

She glanced around his room and saw a TV with a video game counsel, a shelf with old guns and weapons of his, a data computer (just like the one in Echo's room), and an Autobot-sized desk and chair. Bumblebee set her things on the empty spaces of his shelves. _"You can put that on the desk if you want,"_ he said, pointing to the sword and armor. Echo nodded and did so. "Bumblebee, Echo, I need you to report to the groundbridge," commed Optimus. The two shrugged and made their way out of Bu- their room.

"It's an energon harvester," Optimus said, looking at the photo of a statue holding a golden orb. "Prime, what's going on?" Echo asked as she Bumblebee walk towards the group. The prime turned around, "We must retrieve an artifact from a museum."

"As in stealing?" Jack inquired. "That's illegal," Raf added, looking up at the big bot. "I do not wish to break your laws, but we must obtain the harvester before the Decepticons," Optimus soothed.

Echo frowned in thought before stepping forward. "I have an idea."

Bumblebee drove next to the black Charger. He followed her to the west side of the museum. _"West side is covered,"_ he beeped through the comm. The two sat in silence as the plan went into action. Echo turned her engines off and relaxed. "I hope everything goes alright," she sighed. _"They'll be fine,"_ the scout said, evenly. "I have a bad feeling now that we're here," Echo listened for anything. _"Your plan is reasonable, so we're good,"_ the mech placated.

Soon, the femme heard the sound of a rocket being fired, "Cons!" Echo turned her engines back on and moved from her position. _"Echo!"_ Bumblebee called, following her. She sped up, going around the museum to see a blue van making its way towards a downed Optimus, a canon popping out from its roof. Arcee was coming from the east side of the museum.

The van shot a missile at Echo and Bumblebee. The two transformed as they were launched in the air. "Ahh!" Echo yelled out as she and the scout tumbled across the asphalt. A rocket was fired at Arcee, and the three Autobots collided. The two-wheeler landed in the parking lot several meters away, while Bumblebee and Echo collapsed together in a heap.

Bulkhead appeared from the top of the museum. He charged at the van, which transformed and punched him across the parking lot into the red Decepticon standing over Optimus. The impact of the two smashing through the glass of the building set the alarms off. Bumblebee got up and lifted up Echo. "Oh no," the femme exclaimed as she heard the alarms.

Soundwave flew over the scene, carrying the harvester. "That would be game," the red mech said as he backflipped and changed into his vehicle mode, escaping with the blue van. Echo shot after them, but it was no use.

Raf and Jack came running out of museum. "The Cons have the harvester," Raf said. Jack looked up at the bots, "And security has Miko!"

"I'll go after her," Bulkhead frowned as Optimus stopped him. 'Miko is safe from harm," the giant mech said.

Bumblebee turned to Echo and looked her up and down, _"Are you okay?"_ The femme nodded and rubbed the back of her head, "A little bruised but I'll make it." The mech nodded back to her as the groundbridge opened up and Team Prime left.

"I'm sending you both to Colorado to search for the harvester," Ratchet said to Bumblebee and Echo, who transformed and waited for the groundbridge to open. "Be careful," Optimus warned them. The familiar blue swirl of the vortex appeared and the two Autobots sped off.

On the other side, snowy mountains and large, green trees surrounded the road. _"Where do you think Starscream would go first?"_ Bumblebee chirped. "Hmm, probably any energon mine he hasn't been able to dig around in," Echo answered.

_"__Ratchet's right,"_ Bumblebee bleeped after a few cycles of silence. Echo swerved slightly in shock before driving straight again, "About what?"

_"__That we shouldn't be fighting. I mean, at least for Raf's sake,"_ the muscle car buzzed, windshield wipers going back and forth as it began to snow. "I know," Echo sighed, her wipers squeaking as they shoved the snow off her window. Deciding to change to a different subject the femme spoke, "Didn't know there was going to be a blizzard." The scout chuckled and beeped in agreement. _"Hopefully this stuff doesn't clog up my systems,"_ he joked back. Echo chuffed and continued driving. _This is going to be a long night._

The black Charger femme looked on as Miko and Bulkhead watched reruns of monster truck rallies. Their fascinations with the giant tire trucks amazed Echo. She shook her helm as they booed when their favorite driver didn't crush all of the cars. _"I love video games, but not that much,"_ Bumblebee beeped, startling the femme. She smirked and rolled her optics, "You and Raf definitely have an obsession with games."

_"__Hey, at least we don't let everyone in the whole world know what we're doing,"_ the mech retorted as Bulkhead and Miko screamed along with the crowd. "I see," Echo blinked a few times before walking away. "You also seem to have an obsession with racing," she grinned at the yellow mech and transformed into her vehicle form. "Catch me if you can." The femme's gas pedal slammed all the way down and she zoomed out of the base.

Bumblebee smiled and narrowed his optics. _"You're on."_

**Song: "Shut Up And Drive" by Rihanna **


	7. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do however, own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Bluespark, and Max.**

**Chapter 7**

Optimus, Ratchet, and Bulkhead looked on in confusion as the yellow Camaro and the black Charger rolled back into the bunker. Echo transformed, laughing and smirking, "Told you I could go faster." Bumblebee changed and crossed his servos. _"Excuse me, but you did not win. Not by a long shot. That turn around you did was cheating." _

"Pft," the black femme rolled her optics and waved her hand, "Sure." Flicking her tail, she looked around, "Where are the kids?"

"Well," Ratchet started, resuming his normal stance, "Since you and Bumblebee were gone, Arcee and Bulkhead had to take Rafael home." Echo face palmed as the scout buzzed a sigh and lowered his helm. "What exactly were you doing?" Bulkhead asked, narrowing his optics at the younger Autobots. Echo glared at him before raising an optic ridge, "Uh, racing. What does it look like we were doing?"

Ratchet and Bulkhead muttered something that the two didn't hear. "It's late," Optimus stepped in, attempting to end the conversation, "You two should go get some recharge." Bumblebee turned to the black femme, _"I'll sleep in the medbay tonight."_ Echo slightly smiled, "Thanks."

"Oh, and what's wrong with your room?" the old medic asked, not taking his eyes off his work. Bumblebee started walking towards the medical berth, _"There's only one berth in there."_ Optimus grunted in understanding. "I shall see to it that another one is made," the prime fluttered his optic shudders a few times, needing some recharge as well. "It's fine, Optimus," Echo said rather quickly, "We are content with our sleeping arrangements."

"As you wish," with that, the large red and blue mech made his way towards his quarters. The black Dodger yawned before gliding across the room to the room she and Bumblebee shared, "Goodnight, everyone."

_Echo opened her eyes and looked around. Before her were the dead and vacant buildings of her home. Her bright blue eyes scanned each and every detail, recognizing the familiar scorch markings. She shuddered and gasped as terrifying memories filled her processor._

_"__You shouldn't be friends with him," a familiar mech voice spoke out. Echo turned around to see a blue and silver mech walking towards her, glowing red optics. "Max," she whispered, "What have you done?" The femme stared in disbelief at the mech's eyes. "Brother, I can't believe you would join the Decepticons after what they did to our carrier." _

_The mech, Max, laughed and rolled his optics, "Dearest sister, you were always weak and naïve." The silver and blue Decepticon's gaze traveled to something to the far right of his sister, "He used to be like that, too." The black femme slowly moved her helm. She screamed in shock once her optics rested upon a heap of yellow and black metal. "Bumblebee!" she exclaimed, running towards the dead Autobot. His optics were offlined, and his spark chamber was exposed, still and cold. Metal burn decorated his frame, along with scratches and broken limbs._

_Before Echo could reach the scout, an invisible force tugged on her, pulling the femme back. She fell face first into the ground as she was dragged by her legs. Echo pawed the ground, digging deep in attempt to free herself. _

_The ground began to shake, and Echo's optics watched as a trench cracked through the earth. As the ravine became wider, Bumblebee's body was slowly falling into it. _

"No!" Echo sat up, screaming and breathing hard from the nightmare. Footsteps outside the room grew louder as someone ran down the hallway. A loud knock came from the other side. "Come in," Echo said, barely able to form words. The door opened and Bumblebee stood in the frame. _"Echo, are you okay?"_ he asked in concern, rushing over to her side.

The femme panted and held a servo to her chassis, "No, I mean, I-I don't know." Bumblebee chirped, cooing Echo. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, the scout pulled her into a hug. _"Nightmares?"_

"Yeah," Echo answered as coolant began flowing from her optics. _"Do you want to talk about them?"_ Bumblebee asked, rubbing her back in circles. The black femme shook her head and hugged the mech back. _"I'll listen if you need to,"_ he offered softly. Echo continued to sob, her chest heaving. When his words ran through her processor, the femme's optics widened and she relaxed.

"I can't remember," she lied, closing her optic shudders. _"Okay,"_ the scout soothed, _"It's okay."_ Echo shook her helm and sniffed. "It was terrible," she cried, gripping onto the mech as if her life depended on it. The thought of him dying such a painful death filled her spark with waves of depression and sorrow. As if he could read her thoughts, Bumblebee stopped rubbing her back and looked down at her, _"I know how you feel. I used to get them all the time." _

The scout chuckled, _"Except I usually didn't scream, waking up everyone on base."_ Echo slightly smiled, if you could call it a smile. "I'm sorry I woke you up," she hiccupped, coolant no longer running down her cheek plates. _"It's fine,"_ Bumblebee beeped, _"I got enough recharge."_ Letting go of her, he lifted her face to his, _"Are you okay now?"_

Echo, not able to form words, nodded. The scout gave her a reassuring glance before standing up. _"Let me know if you need someone to talk about it,"_ he buzzed as he stepped out of the room.

"I will," the femme whispered after he had already left. "Why did you do that?"

* * *

Bumblebee headed down the hallway, back to the medbay. Why did I just do that? As he reached the main part of the silo, he spotted Optimus working on the data computer. _"Good morning, Optimus,"_ Bumblebee bleeped sleepily. He considered going back to recharge, but he'd only get another hour or two before he need to wake up. "Good morning," the prime answered back, "Aren't you up a bit early, Bumblebee?"

The yellow scout shrugged and leaned against a wall. _"Didn't you hear the screaming?"_

"Yes," Optimus said, calmly. Bumblebee lightly laughed, _"I'm surprised she didn't wake everyone up."_ Prime muttered something to himself. _"I think she's fine now,"_ the scout added, tilting his helm after Optimus finished murmuring. "Did she go back into recharge?" the red and blue mech asked after a few cycles of silence.

_"I don't know,"_ Bumblebee stood up straight and walked towards the tunnel, _"I left before she could. I'm going for a quick drive to wake me up."_ Optimus grunted in agreement, "Might as well go and wait for Rafael to get ready for school." Bumblebee beeped before he transformed, making his way to Raf's house.

"Young mechs," Optimus shook his helm and exhaled deeply.

**Song: "One More Night" by Maroon 5**


	8. Speed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Chapter 8**

Bumblebee and Echo drove into the bunker. Raf hopped out of Echo and looked up as she transformed. "I can't believe that kid!" Echo hissed while the yellow muscle car converted to his bi-pedal form. _"I know! And he had the nerve to say that!"_ Bumblebee pitched in.

"What's wrong?" Arcee asked, having picked up Jack earlier. "Hey 'Cee. Well, 'Bee and I were picking up Raf from his club meeting," the femme glanced at the scout. _"And we saw this kid picking on him,"_ he finished for her. Arcee knelt down and looked at Raf with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Never better," Raf replied, "Thanks to Echo."

"Oh," Ratchet walked into the conversation, "And what did Echo do?" Bumblebee stepped forward and beeped, _"She gave the kid a good lesson. In other words, she gave him a black eye."_ The medic and the two-wheeler gasped and then glared at Echo, "You revealed yourself?"

"No," Echo grimaced, "I used my holoform." Arcee and Ratchet sighed in relief and then glanced at Raf. _"Good thing she did,"_ the yellow mech defended, _"Or else Raf would have been the one with the black eye." _

"So, what did the kid say?" Arcee raised an optic ridge. "I'd rather not say," Echo's ears flattened and she rubbed her left servo, looking down. _"The guy called her a bitch and then told her to go screw herself,"_ Bumblebee said with a glare, placing a hand on the femme's shoulder. Ratchet's eyes widened in shock and Arcee grunted, "Teenagers."

"I heard that," Jack said, leaning against a railing across the room, "Don't take it to heart, Echo." The black Autobot smiled at the boy. "Thanks for standing up to him," Raf said, placing his hand on the tire in the femme's foot. "Anything to keep you safe, Raf," Echo grinned.

The kids went off to do their own things while Arcee and Echo engaged in a conversation. "So, what happened after Jack finished his shift?" Echo asked with a smirk. "Ugh, this kid named Vince challenged Jack to a race," the two-wheeler answered, rolling her optics. "You're racing now?" the black femme tilted her helm. "Don't you dare say a word to Opt about this," the smaller femme stated, pointing a finger.

"I swear I will not tell Optimus that you're racing now," Echo promised with a raised optic ridge. "No, it was a onetime thing," Arcee said before smirking, "You and Bumblebee have been racing." Echo chuffed and looked away, "We're far from friends if that's what you're asking."

The blue femme smiled and shook her head, "What I meant was that you two haven't been fighting as much. That's a good thing. For your sakes, and Raf's." Echo smiled and nodded, "I know. But I don't want to be friends with the scout. He's too…well…"

"Distant?" Arcee asked calmly. The black fembot sighed, "Yep. There's something going on with him and I don't want to get caught into it."

"Echo, you may be the only one who can help Bumblebee right now," Arcee's expression became more serious. When Echo stared at her in confusion, Arcee continued, "You're right. There is something going on with that kid. He won't tell any of us, and if you try, you might be able to help him and find out why he's so hostile."

"Ever since he lost his voice, he's been holding back something," Arcee closed her optics and sighed, "It's eating him, I can tell."

Echo's brow furrowed and she bit her lip in thought, "I'll do it for Raf."

Jack walked up to Raf, who was playing a video game. "Hey Raf," the teen asked, "Is it okay if I borrow Bumblebee for an hour?" Raf looked up with an eyebrow raised. _"Please, Raf,"_ Bumblebee pleaded, jumping up and down.

Echo looked from the computer she was working on. She raised an optic ridge and stood up straight, placing her hands on her hips. "Jack, racing is against the rules," the femme said, optics narrowing. The three males glanced at her. "Yeah, and what if Optimus found out?" Raf asked, agreeing with Echo. _"That would be bad,"_ Bumblebee said, lowering his helm.

Miko walked into the conversation, "Raf, he's got to get the girl!" Echo rolled her optics and walked closer to the chat. Bulkhead did the same, shrugging when Echo gave him a what-are-we-going-to-do-about-this look. "And beat the bully," Miko added when Raf's expression turned to annoyance. "Well," the kid said, looking at Echo for help. "Just this one time," Jack said, holding up a finger.

"No," Echo said, startling everyone in the room. Bumblebee glared at her, _"C'mon, Echo. It's only this one time." _

The black femme exhaled and looked away, gritting her teeth. _"Please?"_ Bumblebee's gaze softened. "Fine," Echo narrowed her optics and walked up to the scout. "But, I had nothing to do with this," she jabbed a finger at Bumblebee's chest. The yellow mech held his servos up in surrender, _"I know, I know. Thank you."_

Jack and Miko high fived while Echo walked off, flicking her tail about. Raf looked back and forth from his guardian and his friend. Bumblebee looked at his charge with a confused look. The kid returned a look of "you're stupid". The yellow mech nodded and walked off in the direction Echo had gone.

_"__Hey, wait up!"_ he called to her, once the two were down a hallway away from prying eyes. _"Thank you,"_ he said gratefully once again. The femme spun around and nodded before continuing. Bumblebee gently grabbed her upper servo, stopping her. "_Please don't tell Optimus,"_ he begged. Echo narrowed her optics and looked away, "Bumblebee, I can't promise that."

Bumblebee's optics rotated, pleading. _"If you won't promise for me, please promise for Jack,"_ the mech kept his grip steady. Echo inhaled deeply and closed her optics. She turned to the scout and onlined her eyes, "I promise I won't tell Optimus unless something goes wrong." Bumblebee took her words in and nodded his helm. Instead of thanking her, he kept staring into her optics, emotions spilling out that the female Autobot could not describe. "I'll send Cassy to check up on you," Echo said, pulling from Bumblebee's grip.

The yellow mech watched as the femme crossed her servos and continued walking in silence.

A yellow and black Camaro drove into the ditch where the race was starting. It pulled up to a black car decorated with flames. The tinted windows rolled down and revealed Jack sitting in the driver's seat. Vince looked over and scrutinized the yellow car. "Motorcycle was in the shop," Jack said, smirking.

Sierra walked in front of the line of cars and waved flirtatiously at Jack. The cars took off when she crouched down. The yellow muscle car sped up behind Vince, right on his tailpipe. Bumblebee beeped and fixated his mirror on a red car approaching them. "Bumblebee, I don't know what you are saying," Jack said as the yellow mech drove up onto the sides of the waterway. The red car behind them followed them. "Wait, I know that car," the teen frowned.

A purple plasma gun popped out from the side of the car. _Oh no._

"Something's wrong, I can feel it," Echo said as she paced back and forth in the hangar. Cassy sat down, looking at her with a tilted helm. "Cassy, you should go check up on him."

"Him?" Bulkhead walked up to the femme with a smirk. "I thought you didn't care about Bumblebee." The green mech crossed his servos and continued to mock her. "I don't," Echo lied, narrowing her optics, "I was talking about Jack." She whistled and clicked her glossa. Cassy transformed and headed out of the base towards the race. After the silver motorcycle was gone, Echo turned back to Bulkhead and frowned. "Why are you and Arcee so sure that I have something for the scout?" Her baby blue optics pleaded, "If I cared about him, I wouldn't have let him go to the race."

Bulkhead shook his helm and chuckled, "Echo, whether or not you let him go has nothing to do with it. You just sent your dog to go make sure he and Jack are okay. You care."

Echo looked around in thought. "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen, but I do not care about him in that way." Bulkhead walked closer to her, optics narrowed and helm tilted in curiosity, "What did he do?" Echo raised an optic ridge, "What do you mean?"

"He must've said or done something," the green mech said, slightly emphasizing 'something'. "Remember how I kept waking up from nightmares?" Echo sighed and crossed her servos, looking away in embarrassment. Bulkhead nodded and gave her his full attention. "He came into my room one night and held me while I cried. He kept asking if I wanted to talk about it; that he would listen. I feel like I need to return the favor, somehow."

*Ignore this line*

Bulkhead stepped back, "I think you need to focus more on helping him, rather than getting even." Echo looked at him with confusion sewn onto her face. "Bumblebee hasn't been one to give emotional support like that," the Wrecker grinned, "I think you're one step closer to finding out what's going on with him."

"I hope so," the black femme said, sighing. A few cycles passed before Echo raised a servo to her comm. as it beeped. "Cassy, what did you find out?"

The maximal spoke in sloppy Cybertronian, "Nothing…yet."

Rafael and Miko sat on the couch, playing a video game on the TV. Bulkhead and Echo stood by, watching the outcome of the race. Miko's car kept swerving, trying to get past her younger friend. Echo was so into the game that she did not hear Arcee walking up to the group. As she spoke, everyone flinched and froze, "Anyone seen Jack?"

The black femme stayed completely still, tail in midair, stopped in the middle of a flick. Her ears were pointed straight up, matching the wide, baby blue optics. The human children looked at each other, trying to come up with an excuse. "Uh," Miko started, "Not since…we last saw him." The female finished it off with an innocent smile. Echo stood up straight and nodded, a calm and sincere look on her faceplates. She smiled, barely showing her teeth.

Raf fake smiled, causing Arcee to narrow her optics and frown at the group, "They're racing, aren't they?"

Echo didn't lower her smile, "Yep."

"And Cassy is following them," Arcee added. Echo flicked her tail, "Yep." The two-wheeler's frown deepened. "It was just this once," Raf chipped in, gesturing with his hands. "Did you know about this?" Arcee demanded, glaring at the green Wrecker.

"No…maybe…a little," Bulkhead also gestured with his servo. Arcee sighed as the data computer beeped. Echo walked over to it and activated a transmission from Bumblebee. _"Echo, I'm being chased by Knock Out!"_ the scout exclaimed. The sound of tires screeching in the background caused Echo's tail to waver in concern.

"You're being chased by…Knock Out?" Raf asked, standing up from the couch. _"Yes, I need help immediately,"_ Bumblebee answered. "I'm on my way," Echo stated, jumping into the air as she transformed. The black Dodge Charger sped out of the base. "Cassy," the femme commed her pet, "Bumblebee is in trouble. Make your way over to him."

"I'm already tracking them," Cassy answered, "There's a red car following Bumblebee." Echo groaned in frustration, "Next time, I'm not letting them go."

* * *

Bumblebee swerved and drove out of the ditch. He headed towards a long, straight road, where it was easier to avoid Knock Out's blaster fire. The purple shots hit the ground in front of him, causing the scout to swerve back and forth.

Getting an idea, Bumblebee released oil onto the road. Knock Out's vehicle form spun around as it slipped through the fluid. By the time he stopped spinning, Bumblebee had already drove back into a ditch under a bridge.

Turning his head lights off, the yellow muscle car went silent as a red sports car made its way towards the overpass. Knock Out turned off his engines and listened, not knowing where Bumblebee was. He kicked his engine back on and sped off in search of the Autobot.

Jack looked through the windshield and sighed, "I think we lost him." He gasped as a pair of headlights filled his vision. Vince drove up in his car, furious. He stepped out of the car and walked towards the yellow and black sports car. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," Jack exclaimed. Bumblebee didn't say a word.

"Darby," Vince said threateningly, smacking his fist into his hand.

* * *

A black Dodge Charger raced down the empty road, gas pedal pushing full speed. A silver motorcycle followed behind, with no driver. Ahead of them, a red sports car was backing up towards a bridge. Their engines roared when the car split and changed into the form of the Decepticon medic, Knock Out.

But, when he reached down and plucked a human from under the bridge, the Charger's wheels screeched as it came to a fast stop. The motorcycle swerved around her and transformed. The black car changed as well.

Knock Out threw the teenager into the air as he converted back to his vehicle mode, trapping Vince inside. Echo growled and ran towards him, but the medic started his engines and sped off, too fast to track on foot.

Jack ran up from underneath the bridge as Knock Out drove off with the bully. "Frag!" the black femme shouted, Cassy galloping up to her. "I can't do anything as long as he has a human," Echo huffed, out of breath from her run. "Bumblebee, he's getting away!" Jack yelled down to the idle Autobot. Bumblebee drove up out of the tunnel, _"It's okay. Echo and I will go get him."_

"I can't understand you!" the human teenager shouted angrily. "Beep once for bad, two for good?" Jack asked. A non-sports car beeped twice. Echo and Jack looked over to see Arcee and Bulkhead driving up to them. "Oh, you are in so much trouble," the black femme looked down at Jack.

Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead transformed. The two-wheeler stared down at her charge, placing her hands on her hips, "We need to have a little chat."

Echo stepped forward, "Not now. A human was snatched by Knock Out." Arcee frowned, "What would Knock Out want with a random human?" Jack spoke up, "He probably thought Vince was Bumblebee's human friend. I'm not even Bumblebee's human friend."

_"__Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"_ Bumblebee's doorwings lowered. "Whatever, but Vince is in trouble," Jack said, turning to the Autobots. "Oh well, tough break for Vince," Bulkhead looked away, shrugging. "Bulkhead!" Echo snapped, reprimanding him.

"What? The guy's a jerk!" the Wrecker lifted an optic ridge. "Just like a mech I used to know," Echo mumbled to herself, though not soft enough. _"I heard that,"_ Bumblebee said, narrowing his optics. Jack ignored the exchange, "The guy is also innocent. He doesn't deserve to get crushed by Cons."

Arcee thought to herself for a moment before converting into a motorcycle, "Hop on."

* * *

Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Echo, and Arcee headed through Jasper in their vehicle modes, looking around for Knock Out. Cassy-unknown to everyone except Echo-drove, with a holoform, back to the base to inform Optimus of what happened. As the four came to an intersection, a red car zipped past them. Echo turned sharply and headed after Knock Out, driving at full speed. The femme caught up to his tailpipe, bumping him forward.

The rest of the Autobots caught up and Echo slowed down as the Con turned into a parking lot. "Stay on your guard," Echo warned, entering the lot. The team split up and came into the area at different points. Arcee dropped Jack off before going in herself.

* * *

"Over here," Echo whispered to Bumblebee and Bulkhead when they turned a corner. The femme was in her bi-pedal form in front of a fence that had a hole burned through it. When the boys changed, she tip toed through the hole and looked around. She hopped up onto top of a light pole and analyzed their surroundings. Bumblebee looked back at her, earning a reassuring nod.

Headlights activated on the other side of the parking lot. Echo jumped off the post and activated her guns as Breakdown broke through a warehouse, headed for the scout and the Wrecker. His hammer smashed into the ground as Bumblebee dodged his blow. The scout back flipped out of the way and landed next to Echo. He put away his weapons and brought his fists up as the Con headed towards him. Bumblebee threw a punch but missed, and Breakdown smacked him out of the way.

Echo hissed and kicked Breakdown in the chassis. Giving a war cry, the femme kneed him as he held a servo to his abdomen. The Decepticon stumbled backwards. Echo backflipped towards him and spun around, kicking him once more in the face. Recovering, Breakdown grabbed Echo's leg and threw her across the parking lot. The femme landed in a heap against a storage vault.

Bumblebee looked towards her a beeped in concern, _"Echo!"_ Bulkhead attacked his old foe, throwing punches, and receiving some. The Wrecker fell down when Breakdown punched the Wrecker in the face. The yellow scout shot at the Decepticon, getting his attention.

Breakdown attempted to smash Bumblebee, but the young Autobot jumped out of the way. Echo sat up and shook her helm before standing up. She looked over and saw Arcee on top of Knock Out's vehicle mode. Starting his engines, the Con took off with the smaller femme still on him.

Echo looked around and saw Breakdown pick Bumblebee up, who looked to be unconscious, by his servo. The scout became animated again and shot at Breakdown. The Con let go of him and stepped backwards. Echo ran towards Breakdown at the same time as her fellow Autobot. She threw a kick and a punch at the blue mech's legs, then ducked as Bumblebee backflipped, kicking Breakdown in the face.

When the scout landed, Echo turned to him and smirked, "Not bad." Bumblebee chuckled and pulled her back as Bulkhead punched at Breakdown with his hammer, _"I guess we make a good team."_ The two smiled at each other before heading back into combat. Bulkhead was thrown across the parking lot, and his optics closed as he groaned.

Echo leapt on top of Breakdown with a roar, holding him in a head-lock. The mech fell backwards, crushing the femme underneath him. She screamed in pain and squirmed around. Letting go of him, the Autobot attempted to free herself. Bumblebee ran to her and grabbed her servo, pulling her out. Before she could thank him, she was grabbed around the waist and flung several yards away.

Bumblebee braced himself as the Con made him the next victim. Breakdown threw his fist at the small Autobot, whom jumped to his left and right, avoiding the punches. The mech finally got the scout and uppercutted him. Bumblebee went flying and landed unconscious a few feet away from Echo. The femme stood up and in front of the fallen Autobot, protectively.

"Breakdown, in case you're looking for me, I had to scram," Knock Out's voice came through the comm., causing Breakdown to raise an optic ridge. The mech stopped in front of Echo. Bumblebee looked up and saw Echo hissing at Breakdown, ready to defend him.

A light flickered and the Con looked over to see Bulkhead pick up a light pole. The Wrecker swung at him. Echo ducked as the pole hit the Decepticon, causing the mech to crash into an assortment of storage containers. Bumblebee stood up and looked at the smoke erupting from the crater Breakdown created, _"Dang."_ He offered a hand to Echo, who was still crouched down on the ground. She took his servo gratefully and stood up.

"We need to go help Arcee," the femme said, becoming a Charger once more. She took off, turning out of the parking lot in the direction Arcee and Knock Out went.

"I knew you were soft for her," Bulkhead teased, driving off. _"Shut up!"_ Bumblebee frowned as he transformed into his muscle car.

* * *

"You all are in a lot of trouble," Optimus frowned at his soldiers, "You're lucky that Echo told me what was going on." Bumblebee looked at Echo with hurt optics, _"You told him?"_ Echo glared at the scout, "If I hadn't, Vince would be long gone by now." Bumblebee beeped in agreement and lowered his helm. "Bumblebee," Optimus started in a reprimanding tone, "I am extremely disappointed in you. Until further notice, you are confined to base. No racing or leaving the base unless I tell you to. Echo will take over as Raf's guardian until you have earned your privileges back." The yellow Autobot's optics widened and his doorwings sunk.

"Optimus," Echo stepped forward, "It's my fault. I let them go to the race." The Prime did not look at the femme; instead he continued to frown at his scout. "Bumblebee still went either way," Optimus narrowed his optics, "And placed _two_ humans in danger."

Before Echo could protest further, Optimus held up a servo, signaling that it was said and done. "Now, all of you," Prime ordered the team, "Go get some recharge, we start scouting for energon in the morning."

As the other bots walked away, Echo crossed her arms and looked down. She sat on the medical berth, as it was her turn to sleep there. Bumblebee stopped walking and turned to see the depressed femme. He made his way over to her and took a spot next to her. "Sorry 'Bee," she apologized. The scout shook his helm and placed a hand on her shoulder, _"Prime is right. I went anyways, so it's my fault this happened." _

"Um, Echo?" A young voice asked. Echo looked up to see Raf, Miko, and Jack walk up to the femme. "We all need rides home," Miko said without her usual punk-style, feeling bad for Bumblebee's punishment. "Let's go," the black femme sighed, transforming. _"Be careful,"_ Bumblebee advised, standing up. Echo started her engines. "I will."

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed :) Sorry about the random line in between the paragraph (if you see it), it wasn't supposed to be there. Anyways, this "book" in the series is about halfway done. Don't worry, there will be another ;) Until we meet again. -Echobee**

**Song: ****"Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble**


	9. Plague

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or it's characters. I do own my OCs: Echo, Cassy, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo.**

**Chapter 9**

The black Dodge Charger pulled up to Raf's house, cutting her engines. "Thanks, Echo," the young human said as he grabbed his backpack and got out. "No problem. Good night, Raf." After the human was safely in his home, Echo drove down the street and made her ways towards Jack's house, "Jack, you're up next."

"Thanks," the teen sighed, "Though my mom will probably be furious." Miko, who was sitting in the passenger seat, punched him lightly on the shoulder, "Ha! Loser!" Echo lowered her voice in a reprimanding tone, "Miko."

"Sorry," the punk-style girl apologized before she bore a smirk, "So you and Bumblebee, huh?" The black car slammed on her breaks, causing the kids to grunt as the seatbelts tugged on them. Echo allowed her engines to run for a few moments before she spoke, "Okay. I need to get something straight. Next time anyone accuses me of having a thing for Bumblebee, I am going to push him off a cliff, got that?"

Jack and Miko's eyes widened and they held their hands up in surrender. "Good," the femme continued driving, eventually reaching Jack's house. She said nothing when the teenager thanked her. The same silence came when she dropped off Miko.

* * *

Ratchet was just about to turn the power off and go to the barracks for recharge when Echo returned. "Next time, make sure Arcee and Bulkhead take care of their own charges," the femme snapped, heading towards her room. "Uh, Echo?" the medic tried to get her attention. He watched her go with a raised optic ridge. "What has gotten into you?"

Echo ignored him and swayed her tail in anger, knocking over a few tools from a work station. Ratchet knew better than to further irritate her, so he let her storm off. The black Autobot stomped away, likely waking up every bot on base. Her pet wolf peeked around a corner and whined, padding over to her. The Cybertronian dog licked her hand and nudged her thigh. Echo turned around and sighed before bringing her hand down to sooth Cassy.

The femme sat there on the ground, scratching underneath Cassy's chin, smiling as she calmed down. "Are you okay?" Cassy's Cybertronian was still sloppy and primitive, due to the fact that she did not have the same vocal processor as her bi-pedal cousins. "I'm not," Echo shook her head as the wolf laid down next to her, thumping her bushy tail, "I'm really not."

"Why?"

"This war has become so harsh and bleak. I don't know where my family is, and these bots keep trying to push me with their scout," the black femme whispered the last sentence, fearful that the mech in question would hear her. Instead of smirking like the others did when Echo mentioned him, Cassy tilted her helm, "Do you care about him?"

"As a friend, yes," Echo looked away, "As something more, I'm not sure." She stood up and patted her thigh, signaling for Cassy to follow her. The wolf did as instructed and paced a few steps behind her master. The two eventually reached Echo and Bumblebee's shared quarters. When the door opened, Echo felt like she could slap herself.

On the berth was a peacefully sleeping Bumblebee, deep in recharge. He was curled up on his side, as his wings prevented him from lying down on his back. The soft hum of his engines told Echo that he was dreaming, and so the femme froze in place, hoping she hadn't woke him up. Rather than turning around and leaving, she found herself staring at the scout, emotions flowing in her gaze. Cassy looked up to her owner, a smile playing on her muzzle.

_He is a good mech_, Echo thought, _Strong, faithful, cute_. The black femme shook her helm and frowned. _Did I just think that?_ She sighed when she speculated that he was still asleep. Turning around, she made her way down the hall, headed back to the medbay. A warm feeling had been seeping into her spark ever since she left the room. To what that wave of emotion was, she did not know.

Cassy made herself comfortable in a curled up position at the foot of the medical berth. Echo removed a few tools she had been working on this past week and turned the lights off. Ratchet had already left for bed, and the base was so quiet, Echo could hear her thoughts as if they were actually happening.

_What am I doing?_

* * *

"Optimus," Ratchet called out as the data computer beeped, "You're not going to believe this! We've just found the location of the Decepticon warship." Optimus Prime and the rest of his team walked up to Ratchet and Echo, who have been working on the computer.

"How did you penetrate the cloaking technology?" The Prime asked, disbelief and excitement in his baritone voice. "I didn't," the medic turned to Echo. _"_I was experimenting wavelengths when I stumbled upon the ship_," _Echo stated, gesturing with her hand as a hologram of the Nemesis appeared on the screen.

"Their ship must be experiencing an electromagnetic breach," Ratchet added, glancing at the status of the war craft. "Megatron is deceased, and we have the element of surprise," Arcee said, smashing a fist into her hand.

"We could cause some serious damage," Bulkhead looked down at the femme, whom smiled with determination. Echo cleared her throat and grabbed their attention once more, _"_Also on the same frequency, an Autobot emergency beacon_." _

Everyone looked to their leader for the orders. "The Decepticons can wait. There may be Autobots in distress. Ratchet, bring your medical kit," the prime walked over to the groundbridge and prepared to launch it. The red and white medic grabbed a large, white container from the medbay and made his way over to Optimus.

"Echo is in charge until I return," Optimus ordered as he and the medic walked through the bridge. Once they were gone, Arcee turned to the black femme. "Wait, Optimus has you in charge of what?"

Echo shrugged and raised an optic ridge, "Probably making sure no one sneaks out for a drive…again."

_"__That only happened once,"_ Bumblebee protested, holding up a digit. The black femme's face tightened in an irritated look. _"Okay maybe a few times, but that won't happen again,"_ he added, puffing out his chest.

"Sure," Echo pulled up reading's of the two Autobots' vitals and a comm. channel. A visual of an Autobot ship appeared on the screen to their left. "Echo, can you find an entry point?" her leader asked. Scanning the crash site, the femme shook her helm, "No, it looks like you'll have to force your way in. Use the flame rod I gave you."

Optimus and Ratchet made their way into the ship, which began shaking. "Both of you be very careful. The ship is eons old and on the verge of collapsing," Echo warned through the comm. link. "Understood," Ratchet patched in. "Make your way down the hall to your left," the femme guided, "Optimus, you need to pry the doors open. I'm reading a weird signal from that room."

After a few moments of silence, Optimus activated the channel, "Echo, this is a plagued ship." The black Autobot gasped, running a scan over the ship once more. Her optics widened when the results came through. "Both of you need to get out of there, now! And don't touch anything!"

The ship shook again, this time, more spontaneous. Echo was about to active the groundbridge when she heard Optimus gasp out. She glanced at his signal and her optics went dark. "No."

* * *

Ratchet hovered a medical device over his leader's helm, assessing how bad the infection was. His right eye was dimming and rusted. "It's Cybonic Plague, like you predicted," the medic spoke the results to Echo and the team.

"What was a plague doing on an Autobot spaceship?" Miko asked, her concern for Optimus and the rest of the bots clear in her voice.

"The virus must have gotten to the crew during the war," Echo sighed, stepping away from the medbay, "It killed millions back on Cybertron. It was designed and created by Decepticon scientists for biological warfare. Megatron himself was the inventor."

"How do you know so much about it?" Miko asked, having not been paying attention, as usual. "I lost a true friend and soldier to that disease," Echo's optics narrowed and she turned away from the human. "There's a cure, right?" Raf asked, trying to placate the femme. "There is no cure," the black Autobot said softly, breathing in heavily.

"There has to be one. I mean, what if he got it?" Jack asked, making the team brighten up. Bulkhead ruined the parade, "We can't just ask Megatron. He's scrap."

"Ratchet," Echo called, pointing at the data computer. "But we may be able to sneak aboard the Decepticon warship and access their database. We still have their location pin pointed," the red mech stated. He turned to the femme, "Since Optimus is out, you are still in charge."

Echo thought for a moment before turning to Bumblebee, "'Bee, let's go." Miko smirked and elbowed Jack, "See? They're starting to come together." The male human slightly smiled and nodded.

As the two made their way over to the groundbridge control Ratchet called out to them, "Echo, hurry." The femme nodded and opened a bridge. They transformed and sped through the tunnel.

On the other end, they converted. Echo cartwheeled a few yards while Bumblebee somersaulted. They both activated their weapons and looked around. _"Clear,"_ the yellow scout started taking baby steps forward. "Let's go to the lab first," Echo whispered, nodding in the direction of the Decepticon medbay.

After walking down the straight hallway, the Autobots came up to an intersection. Bumblebee peeked around the corner and spotted a group of Vehicons headed their way. _"Stay back,"_ he ordered softly to the femme. They hid behind the wings of the walls and waited as the squad continue down, not turning into their hallway.

"The lab is right there," Echo said once they were in the clear, pointing at a doorway in the direction the Cons had come from. Right as Echo and Bumblebee walked down to the door, it began unlocking. "Hide!"

Knock Out emerged from the medbay, looking around as if someone was watching him. He lifted and optic ridge and looked down the hallway, walking forwards, "Mhmph." Once he was gone, Bumblebee came out from behind a plate in the wall, sighing in relief. He looked up and saw Echo jumping down from the ceiling. "Wow, he's blind."

The medbay door opened and Echo ran up to a data computer. She hacked into the system and typed at a speed that was almost impossible. "I'm in," she spoke into the comm. Bumblebee walked around her, gun still active in case they had any guests. Files ran up and down the screen, none of them relating to the virus. The femme typed in the code for the plague once more, but a sharp tone erupted from the computer, telling her that there were no results for her search. "Frag," she muttered under her breath, trying again.

"Ratchet, I can't find it," Echo reported, her voice crumbling. "Are you certain?" came the medic's voice. "I have searched through everything! It's not here," the femme snapped, trying again and again. "Clearly you missed something," Ratchet began to get annoyed with her.

_"__Uh, Echo?"_ Bumblebee called to the femme, _"I think I found something you wanna see."_ Echo turned around and glared at the mech, "Not right now 'Bee!"

_"__Echo, I'm serious! Look!" _

"What?" Echo snapped and walked over to the scout. She gasped when she looked through the glass in the medbay door. She clung onto Bumblebee as opened the door. Before them lie the alive body of Megatron. "What did you find?" Ratchet asked, concerned.

"It's Megatron, alive," Echo gritted her teeth and activated her weapon. "That's impossible!" the humans gasped in the background. "I'm looking right at him," Echo said, pointing her gun at the Decepticon warlord. _"I'm seeing it too, she's not that crazy,"_ Bumblebee joked, though still frightened at the mech who took his voice. "Though he's not staring back," the femme said after glaring at the scout.

"He's hooked up to life support," Echo added, analyzing the vital scanners attached. "I'm ending this!" her gun lit up as it was ready to shoot. "Don't! Megatron may be the only one able to save Optimus," Ratchet shouted.

Echo's optics widened and she frowned in confusion, "How so?"

"Is his processor active?"

The femme looked at the medical computer which read his life signals, "Extremely. That sick mind of his is still at work." Bumblebee walked over to the femme and rested a hand on her shoulder. "If Megatron knows the cure, that's where you need to go. You must enter his brain," the medic's words caused Echo to chuff.

"Are you out of your fragging mind? Enter his brain?!"

"You know how to perform a cortical psychic patch," Ratchet argued, "The Decepticon laboratory should have everything you need."

"Ratchet, this is-"

"One of you must try this! I will not allow Optimus to pass knowing that Megatron will outlive him," Ratchet burst, causing Echo to flinch. _"I'll do it,"_ Bumblebee stepped closer. Echo looked at him with wide optics, wanting to tell him not to. She swallowed hard and spoke in a raspy voice, "You will?"

"Are you sure about this?" Raf asked, concern cracking his voice. Echo inhaled deeply, "Bumblebee is the best scout there is. No one is more capable of completing this." The yellow mech nodded his thanks and helped her prepare for the procedure. "You don't have to do this," the femme whispered to him, closing the comm.

The scout stopped and pulled her closer to him, _"Echo, I need to do this. I can't risk you getting caught in his head."_ The femme nodded and attached the plug into the berth underneath Megatron's head. Bumblebee climbed down and hid in a ventilation shaft while Echo brought the other end of the cord over, careful to make it look as discreet as possible. She hopped down into the chamber and looked at Bumblebee. "You good?"

The mech gave her a thumbs-up and his brows lowered into a determined look. Echo walked around him and sighed as she rested her hand at the base of his neck. _"I'll be fine,"_ he soothed her. "I know," she blinked her optics shudders and re-opened the transmission, "Ratchet, we're ready to go."

"Initiate psychic patch," the medic ordered. Echo attached the end of the patch to the back of Bumblebee's head, causing him to shake as he entered Megatron's mind. Echo sat in front of the mech, holding his hand in hers, "Good luck, scout."

* * *

The femme activated her weapon and looked around, keeping an eye out for the Cons. Cycles past. Echo turned off the comm. output so she could focus on keeping her friend safe. But, she couldn't fight the temptation and spoke, "How's it going?"

"Not good," Bulkhead replied as he watched the screen back at base. "What?" Echo jumped up, "What's happening?"

"We've stirred Megatron from his oblivion. He's become self-aware."

Echo looked around and stared at the scout, optics still offline. "C'mon scout, keep going," she whispered to him as the doors to the medbay opened. The femme took a peak out of the vent and saw Starscream, Knock Out, and Soundwave enter. Scrap!

Ratchet patched in and listened to the conversation between the trio. "A simple pull of the switch," Knock Out suggested. "Are you hearing this?" Echo whispered to base. "If Megatron perishes, Bumblebee will be trapped in Megatron's mind, forever," Ratchet said gruffly, causing the femme to seethe with fury, "I will never let that happen." She turned back and looked at Bumblebee, optics pleading.

* * *

Starscream reached up to deactivate the life support, but Soundwave reach up a servo and pointed at the cortical plug running from the berth. Echo hid and held her breath as the Seeker began walking towards the vent. He lifted the patch and studied how it led to the chamber. The black Autobot snuck over to Bumblebee and cupped his cheek, "Scout, hurry."

"Echo, we have the formula! Disconnect Bumblebee, now!" Ratchet ordered to her. The femme smirked and pulled the plug. The scout's optics didn't online and Echo began to panic, "C'mon, 'Bee!"

She aimed her gun at Starscream, who was kneeling down to inspect the chamber. Bumblebee's optics onlined, _"I'm good, Sono."_ The femme helped him up as a groundbridge opened. The scout went through and Echo aimed her cannon at Megatron's life support, "Thanks for the help." She shot, sending the silver mech into a spark arrest.

When she came through the groundbridge, Ratchet was scrambling to create the antidote. Echo shook her helm and smiled, walking over to the medic and grabbing the solution from him. "I got it," she pulled up the formula and finished it. Ratchet attached an energon line to Optimus, and the black Autobot poured the cure into the equivalent of a saline bag. The red and blue mech's vitals began to improve, and everyone looked on as their leader slowly regained his strength.

"Sono?" Echo looked over at Bumblebee, an optic ridge raised. He smiled back at her, _"It means sound in Iaconian."_ The femme smirked, "Why the nickname?"

_"It also means soul,"_ the yellow mech turned back to Optimus, cheeks beginning to turn red. Echo smiled and looked away, her own cheeks becoming hot.

* * *

"Alright, I believe you are strong enough to get back on your feet," the Autobot medic made his way over to the medical berth, helping Optimus up. The humans and team Prime clapped and cheered while Echo nodded in respect. "Please, save your cheers for my medic and mechanic," he gestured to Echo and Ratchet, "And my scout."

Echo nudged Bumblebee's chassis and he turned red in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his helm. _"Nah, I was just doing my job,"_ he said bashfully. "C'mon, 'Bee. Take a bow," Raf cheered. His guardian shrugged and took a bow, still shy as the humans and bots clapped. He stood up straight and stared at a wall, as if he were a drone. Echo frowned and waved a servo in front of him, "You good, scout?"

He shook his helm and looked at the femme, _"Uh, yeah. Just a bit tired."_ Echo nodded and slightly smiled, "You should probably go get some recharge."

"Bumblebee," Optimus started, taking a few steps at a time, "Perhaps I was too harsh. I believe you have earned your privileges back." Bumblebee turned into a sparkling and got excited, _"Oh, thank you Optimus. You won't regret it." _

"I hope not," the red and blue mech looked at Echo and then the yellow mech, "But I would like it if the two of you both continued acting as Raf's guardian." The black femme looked to Bumblebee, who smiled in agreement. "Good," Prime leaned against a loft for support, turning to talk to his medic.

"You're okay though, right?" Echo rested a hand on the mech's shoulders. He turned and gave her a warm smile, patting her hand. _"Yeah, I'm going to go sleep for a bit."_ The femme nodded and walked away, "I'll take Raf home today. Good night."

_"Good night,"_ Bumblebee sighed, watching the femme walk off.

"Interesting. I'll have to add her to my list," a voice spoke inside his head. Bumblebee looked around and made his way to his room. Once he was behind locked doors he frowned and smacked himself. _"You stay away from her!"_

"Oh my, you have feelings for that glitch?" Megatron laughed, looking into the scout's thoughts, "How sweet."

_"She's not a glitch!" _the mech looked around for something to hit.

_"__Don't you dare harm Echo,"_ Bumblebee punched the wall. "Don't you mean Sono?" Megatron teased. The scout shook with anger and covered his face. "I can read your mind, Autobot. I see your dreams, your emotions. If you do as I say, I will make her death quick and painless."

_"__Please, kill me. Leave her alone and take my spark,"_ Bumblebee's words caused the Decepticon leader to laugh maniacally. "Let's see what I can do."

**a/n: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for the reviews ;) the story is going to get more intense after this. **

**-Echobee**

**Song: "When I Look At You" by Miley Cyrus **


	10. Trust

**Disclaimer, I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10**

_Before Echo was the Decepticon medbay. Megatron was still hooked up to life support, although his brainwave activity was gone now. "What in the name of the AllSpark?" she glared at the silver mech, "I thought I killed you." _

_"__You did a great job," came the voice Echo was dreading to hear. Her brother walked into the medbay, scratches and burn markings adorning his armor. The femme gasped and her ears flattened, "Who did this to you?" _

_Maximo chuckled and narrowed his optics, "Do you really trust him?" Echo glared at him in confusion, "What are talking about? Who did this to you?" _

_The mech looked behind Echo and smirked, "It looks like your precious scout is a traitor after all." The black Autobot turned around and her optics widened when she saw Bumblebee standing behind her. Hatred and evil poured out from his gaze. In his hands was a shard of Dark Energon. Echo fully faced him and swayed back and forth as she analyzed him, "'Bee, what are you doing with that?" _

_Bumblebee remained silent and raised his gun, aiming it at Maximo. "No!" Echo screamed as her brother fell to the ground from the shot. His spark chamber was exposed, and his life force was ebbing away. "Brother! Don't die," Echo cried and knelt down, placing her hands on her dying brother's chest. _

_The scout turned away from them and walked up to Megatron, raising up the shard. "Bumblebee, listen to me," the femme stood up and tugged on her friend, "Whatever has gotten into you, you need to snap out of it." Bumblebee glared at her and grabbed her throat. Choking her, he spoke out in a voice that could only belong to the Decepticon leader, "Bumblebee can't hear you anymore." With that, the yellow mech crushed Echo's throat. _

The black Autobot sat up, screaming in fear. She clung onto her throat, still feeling the pain. "Echo?" a femme's voice came from her doorway. Looking over, she saw Arcee staring at her in concern, "Um, Ratchet needs you. Are you okay?" Echo frowned, as Bumblebee was usually the one who came in to comfort her. "I'm fine," she said as she stood up.

Ratchet smiled at the femme as she walked into the medbay. "I need your help taking a final scan of Optimus' status," he informed with a calm manner, knowing that Echo must have just woken up from a nightmare, her arms shaking along with the fear in her optics. "Where is he?" the mechanic asked, looking around for the large mech. "He's waiting for us by the analyzing chamber down the hall," the medic grabbed a flashlight and motioned for Echo to follow him.

Down the hall indeed was Optimus, now able to stand on his own. Bumblebee and Arcee were also there, chatting about something. "_She had a nightmare?"_ the scout whispered to the two-wheeler, oblivious to the femme in question walking towards them. "Yeah, how could you not hear her screaming?" Arcee narrowed her optics at Bumblebee, before turning to see Echo passing by them.

"Alright, boss, let's get this over with," Echo sighed, holding a data pad. She had heard the conversation between her fellow Autobots, but she chose not to say anything. Optimus stepped into the chamber and a pair of beams locked at the sides of his chassis. Ratchet ran a scanner up and down the mech before taking out his flashlight. Echo recorded the results and logged the procedure.

"Follow the light," the old medic said, moving the flashlight back and forth in front of the once infected eye. Prime's optic followed its movements perfectly, earning praise from Ratchet. "Thanks to your medical expertise," the red and blue bot thanked his medical officer and his mechanic.

"Actually, it was your scout that saved the day," Ratchet gestured towards Bumblebee. _"No! I don't deserve the credit,"_ the yellow mech waved his hands in front of his face. Echo shook her helm and smirked at him, "You risked your life to save Prime, you deserve at least thirty percent." Bumblebee narrowed his optics at her and gave her a playful smile, _"Haha, I'm dying from laughter." _

"At least Megatron was still alive," Arcee commented, "Yeah I actually said that."

"What's important is that you are now safe, Optimus," Echo smiled at her leader, bowing her head in respect. He did the same to her, a motion that was often used when addressing a prime. _"Good thing Echo took care of Megatron, too,"_ Bumblebee added, patting her on the shoulder, _"So you get, what? Fifteen percent?"_

Echo chuckled and looked at Optimus, "Too bad I wasn't there long enough to make sure he was offline." She and the other bots did not realize their scout had walked away, a possessed look in his optics.

"Good thing you were there, though," Arcee praised, "Or else Bumblebee would be scrap right now." The bots looked around for the mech, but did not see him. "Uh, where'd he go?" Echo asked, before hearing something off in the distance, "I'll be right back."

Bumblebee walked down the halls, not able to control his feet. "It's only a matter of time before your friends find out what's wrong with you scout. I need to find out what happened to me, and that means taking complete and total control of your mind."

_"__No,"_ the yellow mech held onto his helm, shaking it, _"Leave them alone. I will never help you, you monster!" _

"You are a foolish one," Megatron cackled, "The punishment for your insurrection will be the termination of your precious Echo." Bumblebee's optics widened and he beeped a gasp, _"I told you to stay away from her."_

"Do you really think you're in control?" Megatron mocked, "Because I own you now, and I can kill her with a simple blast from your own hand. Be warned, I will not hesitate to offline her or anyone else that stands in my way."

"Bumblebee?" a soft and concerned voice startled him. Bumblebee turned around and saw Echo walking towards him from across the room. "Hey, you left the party early," she joked, smiling at him. _"I didn't like all the fuss,"_ Bumblebee tried his best to smile back, _"I'm just going to lie down and get rid of this headache." _

"Okay," she grinned slightly, bowing her head once, "Take it easy, scout."

He looked her up and down once before continuing on to his room. Echo had moved back into her old room, which made the mech feel relieved that he could watch her from afar. The femme gazed at him with curiosity. "What has gotten into you?" she whispered once he was out of earshot.

"Hey, maybe we should all play a game of basket ball?" Bulkhead asked Echo, who was busy working on the computer. "Um, sorry, Bulk," she said, turning to the Wrecker, "I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"Why don't you go get Bumblebee?" Miko asked, holding up a whistle. "He's sleeping," Echo narrowed her optics, typing something on the keyboard. "Well go get him," Bulkhead raised an optic ridge, "He already got recharge this morning." The black femme rolled her optics and sighed, "Alright. But don't blame me if he doesn't wake up in a good mood."

Miko smirked, "And how would you know if he wakes up in a good mood?" Bulkhead glared at his charge while Echo hissed in annoyance. She made her way down the hall and towards Bumblebee's room. But when she got to the door, she heard him shouting. Ignoring it, Echo knocked on the door, and the noise stopped. "'Bee, Bulk wants to play some basketball."

_"__I'll be there in a minute,"_ the mech answered quickly, signaling for her to go. Echo sighed, "Hurry up. Miko's not one to be patient." As she turned to walk away, the door opened and the mech emerged, _"Let's go."_ Suspicious about his recent behavior, the femme blocked him by placing a servo on his chest, "Are you sure you're fine?"

Irritated, the scout grabbed her hand and took it off his chest, _"I told you, I'm okay. Just a small headache, so stop asking."_ Bumblebee pushed past her and stormed off. Hurt, Echo's face fell and her ears drooped. _Sorry, I just care too much_.

"Basketball by way of Cybertron," Miko blew her whistle at the two mechs. Bumblebee spun the ball on a digit, smirking at Echo, who was watching as she leaned against the loft railing. She raised an optic ridge, wondering what the scout was doing. _Is he flirting?_ He stopped spinning and rolled the ball into his hands. The yellow mech threw the ball up and over Bulkhead, trying to make a shot. But the green Wrecker caught it just as it was about to go into the basket.

Bumblebee looked at Echo with a shrug. She smiled as she shook her helm and motioned with her ears for him to focus on the game. Bulkhead jumped up and tossed the ball, which went through the basket. He picked up the fallen ball and turned to Bumblebee and threw it at him, "C'mon, best two out of three."

Bumblebee caught the ball and looked up with determination. The scout ran past the Wrecker and came up a few feet away from the metal basket. "Go 'Bee! You're in the clear," Raf cheered his guardian on. "Dunk it, scout," Echo called to him. But the mech stopped, staring into space. "Um, 'Bee?" Raf raised an eyebrow, "Go for it."

After a few moments of silence, Bumblebee was still standing there with the ball in his hands. Echo slowly walked over to him, cautiously. "Bumblebee? You're hogging the ball," she joked, trying to snap him out of his daydream. The scout turned around and threw the ball at her. She ducked and glared up at him as the sphere crashed into the wall on the other side of the room, "Watch it!"

Miko slid down a ladder, blowing her whistle, "Foul!"

"Dodgeball by way of Cybertron," Jack chuckled. Echo continued to glare at the yellow mech. Bulkhead walked up behind her and pointed at the basket, "'Bee, the hoop is over there!"

_"__I'm sorry, Echo,"_ Bumblebee looked from her to the hoop, _"I have no idea what just happened."_ The femme's gaze softened and she nodded, "It's okay." Raf looked on at the scout with concern, "Are you okay?"

_"__Never better,"_ he turned to Bulkhead and Echo, _"Three out of five?"_ The black Autobot looked at her work station and then Bumblebee, "I don't know." It was the mech's turn to smirk, _"Afraid of losing?" _

Echo's narrowed and she scoffed, "You're on."

Echo and Bumblebee ended up tying at the end of the game. It was time to take the kids home, so they opted for Bumblebee to drive. Echo activated her holoform, a girl with wavy, brown hair, tan skin, a black slip on hoodie, blue skinny jeans, and gray boots. Raf sat in the backseat while the femme sat in the passenger. _"Ready to go?"_ Bumblebee beeped through the radio. "You have all your books and such, right?" Echo inquired, giving the human child a warm smile.

"Yep, let's go," Raf clicked in his seatbelt as Bumblebee began driving. The mech put on Echo's seatbelt for her, gaining a nod of thanks. After a few cycles of silence, Echo slightly laughed, "A little quiet, isn't it?"

Rafael spoke up, "Um, 'Bee and I usually listen to music or talk about the next day when he drives me home."

"Oh, do you want me to turn the radio on?" Echo asked. The human looked around in thought, pondering something. "Sure," he answered hesitantly. "If you don't want it on that's okay," Echo raised an eyebrow, her baby blue optics studying the dashboard with confusion. _"I think we're good,"_ Bumblebee said nervously.

Sighing, Echo glared at the two, "Okay, is there something you're not telling me? Cause right now the two of you are acting weird." Raf looked down at his feet. _"Echo, can we talk about this later?"_ Bumblebee's bleeps came out sad and regretful, _"In private?" _

"Fine," Echo calmed down, "Sorry I snapped." Raf reached up and patted her on the shoulder, accepting her apology.

Once they had dropped Raf off, Echo curled up in her seat as Bumblebee took off. "Can we talk about it now?"

_"__I express my emotions out through my music,"_ Bumblebee blurted out, _"I only let Raf hear how I feel because everyone else would laugh." _

"I wouldn't," Echo whispered after a few moments of silence. If Bumblebee wasn't in his vehicle mode, the femme could see his surprised reaction. _"Can I tell you something else?"_ he asked as they began driving through the desert. "Of course," Echo smiled and sat correctly, giving him her full attention. _"I…dance."_

The femme's eyes widened and she smiled, "Really?"

_"__Well, I used to be a poor Iaconian, so yeah,"_ he chuckled lightly, _"At times, dancing was all I had."_

"I lived in Praxus, so I never got the chance to learn how to dance," Echo slightly smiled. _"Oh, so you're a singer?"_ Bumblebee implied mischievously. "Nah, only a little bit," the femme's cheeks began to turn red.

_"__How about this,"_ the scout started, _"I teach you how to dance, and you let me hear you sing?"_ Echo raised an optic ridge and smirked, "I'd like that. It's a deal." Bumblebee beeped, _"Can I hear you now?"_

"Don't push your luck, skauti," Echo laughed, making herself comfortable in the leather seat again. _"Skauti?"_ Bumblebee puzzled, though with a slight hint of mischief. "It means scout in Praxian," the femme winked, smirking out the window, "And it also means troublemaker in the Elite Guard dialect." The yellow muscle car laughed, _"You're a sneaky femme, aren't you?"_

"I think I learned that from you," Echo laughed lightly and leaned her head against the seat. The mech would be lying if he said he didn't like the feel of her falling asleep in the passenger seat.

The silence that followed was relaxed and peaceful. Echo almost fell asleep looking at the desert passing by. To wake herself up, she turned to the radio and inspected it, "Why did you tell me?"

_"__Tell you what?" _

"That you express yourself in music and dance," Echo said calmly, tempted to turn his radio on and see what he was thinking. As if he read her mind, Bumblebee spoke up, _"You can turn it on if you want to."_ The femme tilted her head, her arm leaning on the center console of his car, "I don't want to intrude."

_"__I trust you,"_ the scout's voice came out calmly, even though Echo could sense he was in a way begging her to turn the radio on. She ran her fingers over the controls of the radio. _If he wanted it on so bad, why wouldn't he do it himself? _Echo was about to press play, but the base was only a few hundred yards away. "Perhaps another time."

"Okay," the yellow mech seemed slightly disappointed. _What is going on with him? _

Echo stretched as she woke up from recharge. She sighed in relief as her joints and cables became less tense. _No nightmares, that's a first_. The sound of someone walking interrupted her happy place. The femme got off her berth and peeked outside her door. A certain yellow scout was stomping through the halls. Instead of calling out to him, Echo followed him quietly.

The mech made his way towards the main chamber of the silo, stopping and staring at a flashlight. Echo used her training to sneak around the loft and hid next to a computer hard drive. Bumblebee's optics rotated and dimmed. He stepped closer and grabbed the device, still looking disturbing. Echo gasped as the mech glared at the flashlight and crushed it.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet's voice shouted, startling both the scout and Echo. Bumblebee turned around tilted his helm. "I needed that!" the medic narrowed his optics. _"What the frag?"_ the yellow Autobot exclaimed, looking down at the damage he did. Echo came out from her hiding place, an optic ridge raised, "What has gotten into you?"

_"__I-I don't know,"_ Bumblebee looked at his friend with panic, _"I keep seeing Megatron as if he were in my head."_ Echo blinked a few times in disbelief, "Uh, you're seeing Megatron's face?"

The scout nodded. "Ratchet?" Echo turned to her old mentor. The medic narrowed his optics and analyzed the mech, "Just great."

Echo crossed her arms and sighed as Ratchet put Bumblebee into induced stasis. "This should help us find out what is wrong with our scout," Ratchet told Optimus, who was standing behind the medic. The data computer behind them beeped, and Echo walked over and activated the transmission. "Prime," Agent Fowler greeted as his face popped up on the screen, "Have you spotted any Decepticons wearing hula skirts lately?"

Optimus looked down at his mechanic, whom shrugged, "No, I have not. Why?"

"Because Decepticons have busted into a Hawaiian observatory, stealing its space telescope," the agent informed. Echo sighed, "We can't tell what the Cons will do with the lens unless we know where it has been taken."

"Good thing it has a tracking device," Fowler smirked, "How about I give your mechanic there the tracking frequency."

"That would help," Echo chuckled, moving the transmission to another computer. Typing in the code Agent Fowler sent over, the femme was able to pin point its location. "In the Arctic," she grumbled, rolling her optics. "Another chance to freeze our tailpipes off?" Arcee joked. "They're going to use the lens to melt that glacier," Echo said, zooming in on an energon deposit.

"Coastal cities will be permanently flooded if that happens," Agent Fowler huffed. "Echo, open a groundbridge to those coordinates," Optimus ordered, walking over to the tunnel, "Stay here with Ratchet." The femme nodded and followed his orders.

Medical scanners and computers beeped throughout the silence, making Echo feel even more isolated. But, she needed time to think things over. _Do I have feelings for the scout?_ The black femme pondered this over and over as she began taking various tools apart to numb her boredom. _He saved my tailpipe more times than I can count… _

The image of the young mech sleeping peacefully sneaked its way back into her thoughts, causing her to slightly frown. _How can he be so hostile, yet so gentle?_ Echo remembered back to a conversation she had with Bulkhead. "I don't think he's being hostile because he hates you," the green mech had said. _What is that supposed to mean? Should I ask Bumblebee? No. _

Cycles went past, and all Echo could think about was the other day on the warship. Bumblebee had said that he couldn't risk her being lost. _Does he have feelings for me?_ One moment, they're fighting and getting into each other's faces, the next they can't bear the thought of each other getting hurt. _What the frag is going on? Am I glitching or something?_

The soft voice of a human boy broke her reflection. "So I blow past the finish line, then my other sister asked how I got so good at racing. I told her that I know a guy and a girl who know a lot about cars," Raf was speaking to the recharging Bumblebee. Echo smiled and got up from the berth where she was working. Setting the tools down, she crossed her servos and slightly smiled, "Hey, bud."

The kid turned around and smiled at the femme, "Hey, Echo." A twinkle of sorrow passed through the femme's optics, "Raf, 'Bee can't hear you when he's in power down mode. Would you like me to take you home? It's pretty late."

"Thanks, but I told 'Bee I would stay," the human looked down in distress, "He's family, too. And seeing him like this is disturbing." Echo sighed and sat down next to her charge, glancing up at the mech, "I know how you feel."

Giving a quick snort, Echo smirked down at the boy, "Don't you have to be the same species to be family?" Raf shook his head and took out his phone, "No, that's being related. Look, this is my family." The black femme smiled when she saw his large family, "That's sweet. I wish I had that." Patting Echo's pedde, he laughed, "I'm not so sure about that. I can practically yell and no one listens to me. But Bumblebee always listens to me."

Echo grinned, "I think fate brought him to you. No wonder you are able to understand him so. Now I see why he trusts you with all of his secrets." Raf looked up at her, pushing his glasses up, "I take it 'Bee told you about his talent?"

"Yes, and I mine," she laughed. The boy tilted his head in confusion, "What can you do?" The femme's tail thumped against the metal of the chamber in joy, "I sing. Well, at least I used to. I stopped awhile ago, but I should still have it in me." Echo added a wink to her last sentence.

"Cool! Could I hear you sometime? I mean, if you don't want to that's okay."

"I would love for you to hear me," Echo looked up at the scout, "Maybe you should come with us on a race sometime and the three of us can go somewhere to sing." Raf nodded, excitedly. "So where are you from on Cybertron?" the kid inquired, once again pushing up his glasses. "I'm from Praxus, a city-state that used to be focused on art and beauty, but turned dark during the war. A lot of Cybertronian archaeologists and musicians came from there," she looked back through her memories, trying to feed out the negativity.

"But didn't you have doorwings once? Bumblebee told me that only Iaconians have doorwings."

"Yes, but that was because my father and my mother were from different regions. I inherited wings from my father. My mother was Praxian, so she didn't have them," Echo gulped. "Who's your mom and dad?" Raf didn't notice the femme's nervousness. "Uh, primes," she coughed, attempting to cover her words up. "Really? So you're in line to become the next prime?" the human child. Echo couldn't resist a smile, "Maybe. If I earn it."

"Oh, right, sorry," Rafael blushed. "Don't be. You never know," she gestured a servo towards the mech behind them, "Bumblebee might even be a prime one day." Raf sighed, thinking about what it would be like to be a Prime. "You two have so much in common," he said after a few moments of silence. "How so?" Echo asked, trying not to sound rude. "You both are young, capable warriors," his kind words made the black Autobot smile with gratitude, "Had something stolen from you by Megatron, and you're my guardians. There's a lot more than that."

"Like what?" asked Echo, with a playful smirk. "A secret talent, young, smart, brave," the list went on and on. The femme sitting next to Raf chuckled, "Thanks, Raf. You know what?"

"Yeah?" Raf checked the time on his phone. "I care about him," she whilst looking at Bumblebee, "And I hope that he's okay."

"I knew it," the child exclaimed excitedly, "I knew you cared about 'Bee." Echo lightly laughed before turning serious, "But if you tell anyone, I will break the video game consule." Raf chuckled and nodded, "Fair deal."

"I think fate brought you and 'Bee together, too," Raf surprised Echo, who stared at him in bewilderment. "I-What?" her brow furrowed as she continued to glare at him with caution. "If you ask me for my honest opinion," the child laughed at her reaction, "I would say that you and Bumblebee need to have a deep conversation."

A few hours later, Raf and Echo were still sitting by Bumblebee, practicing Cybertronian. "Okay, now try this," Echo pointed to her ear. "Aurem?" Raf rolled his tongue on the 'r'. "Perfect," Echo praised, giving him a warm smile, "Do you want to go back to greetings?" Rafael nodded as he typed a something on his laptop.

"Echo, Rafael," Ratchet walked up to the two, "I am going to the supply vault to repair this." The medic held up the flashlight Bumblebee had previously destroyed. "Echo, make sure Raf doesn't touch anything," he ordered to the mechanic as he walked away.

"Ugh," Echo shook her helm once the mech was out of earshot, "He is so grumpy. Might as well be one of the seven dwarfs, right?" Raf held his side as he laughed, "You know about that movie?"

"I love Disney," the femme replied, "I watched a ton of them when I was confined to base due to a medical injury a month ago."

"I was wondering why there were copies of Mulan and Cinderella on the TV," the kid chuckled. But the two turned around when they heard a hissing sound behind them. Echo gasped as she witnessed Bumblebee come out of power down by himself. "Bumblebee, where are you going?" she asked, but the mech did not acknowledge her. He walked over to the groundbridge controls and typed in a set of coordinates. "Stop!" Echo pushed on his chest, causing the scout to glare at her. Bumblebee shoved the femme onto the ground and stepped through the bridge.

"What is going on?" Ratchet asked, running into the scene. "Bumblebee just up and left," Echo exclaimed, standing up. She rubbed the side of her hip, which took most of the fall. "How? He was in power down!" Ratchet looked at the open groundbridge, pondering whether or not he should go through, "Where does he think he's off to?"

"Should we follow him?" Raf asked, concerned for his guardian. "No," Echo scowled, "He's been acting up for the past week. I don't know what's going on, but going after him would not be wise." Ratchet sighed, "I agree. Echo, go track him."

The femme did as such and began looking for the scout's Autobot signal. "By the AllSpark," Echo said, reading off the coordinates to Ratchet. The medic's optics widened as he recognized them, "That is where Optimus and I defeated Megatron's army of the dead."

"I'm reading high levels of Dark Energon there," Echo narrowed her eyes and frowned, "We can't call Optimus for back up. We are on our own." Ratchet made his way over to the controls and pulled the lever. The groundbridge opened back up, and Bumblebee walked through.

"Scout," Echo glared at him, "What have you been up to?" He paid her no attention, which forced the femme to grab his wrist. She gasped when she saw a shard of Dark Energon in the mech's hand. "Dark Energon?"

Bumblebee scowled and grabbed her throat, choking her. "Echo!" Ratchet and Raf exclaimed. The black femme felt her vision go blurry, "'Bee, stop!" Ratchet ran towards the mech, who simply punched the medic across the room. Echo used one hand to try and pry Bumblebee's hand from her neck cables, while the other was pushing at his chest. "Please, listen to me," the femme whimpered. Something flashed across the yellow scout's optics and he dropped her. The femme coughed and held her damaged metal.

Bumblebee then made his way towards Raf. "Leave him alone!" Echo shouted as loud as she could, but whoever was controlling her friend did not listen. He grabbed the human and placed him high up in a vent. "You need to fight whatever is making you do this," his charge pleaded.

Echo became dizzy, and her optics lolled back and forth as blackness took over her vision. Finally, she collapsed onto the floor, her nightmare coming true.

"Echo!" came a young voice. The black femme slowly opened her optic shudders, groaning in pain. Realizing that it wasn't a dream, she sat up quickly and looked around frantically, "Where's Bumblebee?"

"We need to go where he went," Ratchet said, preparing a groundbridge. "I'm coming with you," Echo said in a raspy voice. "No, you're too weak," the medic was pushed back by the femme. She turned to Raf and offered him a hand. He climbed onto it and the three made their way through the groundbridge.

"The Decepticon warship?" Ratchet exclaimed in disbelief as the trio found themselves among the many halls of the Con vessel. Echo opted and had Raf sit on Ratchet's shoulder as they ran down, discovering a hall littered with dead Vehicons. "I fear Megatron's mind is dominant," Echo said, shaking her helm at the mess. "Megatron won't stop when it comes to getting what he wants," Ratchet added as he put Raf down. "I believe you are right, old friend," the black Autobot made her way to the medbay.

Sure enough, Bumblebee was there, attaching a cortical psychic patch to himself and Megatron. He turned around and stared at the silver mech's body. Echo gritted her teeth and hissed, running towards the brainwashed scout. "Don't hurt Bumblebee," Raf called to her.

The yellow mech turned around, hearing the commotion, a ruthless and sadistic look in his eyes. "That's not Bumblebee!" Echo's optics thinned into ovals, and her fangs were bared. Whoever did this to her scout would pay. She threw a punch at her friend, and he dodged. Stepping back, the femme brought her fists up, a technique that she had learned from Bumblebee, and she threw a kick at him. The mech caught her foot and yanked her onto the ground. Echo jammed her foot against his groin, causing him to recoil.

As the black Autobot stood up to make another attempt at stopping him, he knocked her into a wall. The femme's optics offlined as Ratchet went for the strike. The medic was unsuccessful and ended up in the same situation as his old apprentice. Bumblebee turned back to Megatron's body, ready to bring him back with the Dark Energon.

"Bumblebee, no! Remember who you are," Raf ran up to his guardian, "Remember me." The kid paused for a second, "Remember Echo." At the mention of the femme's name, the scout's eyes rotated as he fought against Megatron's will. _"Raf, is it you?"_ Bumblebee asked, breaching the fortress. Across the room, Echo stood up, coolant forming in her optics as she held her side. Bumblebee buzzed a gasp, _"What have I done?"_

But before he could make his way over to the femme, Megatron resumed his control. The scout began to shake his helm violently_, "No! No! No!"_ He chirped as his processor began to whirl. Echo ran over to him and placed her hands on the mech's back as he fell onto the ground. Nanokliks later, he looked up at Raf with an evil glare and smacked the kid across the room. Echo was about to punch him, but screamed as her neck cables once again came under the force of Bumblebee's servos.

Ratchet had gotten up and pulled off the leader's life support. Bumblebee threw Echo across the room and punched the old medic into a pile as well. "Bumblebee!" Raf called out, still trying to reach out to his friend. The glare the scout gave him could kill, and the sound of Megatron's voice echoed through the room, "Bumblebee can't hear you anymore!"

Echo's optics widened as she realized her dream was happening before her, "No." She watched in horror as her scout walked up to Megatron's body and forced the shard into his spark chamber, bringing the gladiator back to life. His red optics opened, and he began to get up. Bumblebee shook his helm and removed the patch from his head. He glanced at Echo as Megatron stood up, reaching a servo for her to grasp. The femme used her last bit of strength to run over to him.

Bumblebee pushed Echo behind him as he, Ratchet, and Raf walked backwards in fear. A squad of Decepticons appeared behind them, shocked and rejoiced at their leader's return. The mech walked past them, "Destroy them!" The Cons then began firing at the Autobots. Bumblebee shielded Echo with his body as they made their escape. The femme frowned and somersaulted, activating her guns to help the scout, "We work as a team."

"Over here!" Ratchet shouted as he found a ventilation shaft they could retreat through. _"Here,"_ Bumblebee offered Echo a hand as he saw she was suffering. She took it and gasped when the mech pulled her up bridal style and carried her. He held onto her tightly, pulling her as close to his chest as possible. The femme's vision began to go blurry once more. Just as she was falling into unconsciousness, she wrapped her servos around Bumblebee's neck, "I knew you were still in there, scout."

**a/n: Phew! *sighs in relief* That took awhile. This is the longest chapter I have ever written for a story, so I hope you all enjoyed! :) Just a reminder, I revised the first chapter a bit to give it more detail. I'll be doing that with the other chapters as well. Please leave a review, they are much appreciated. Thank you to all of my readers! Until next time,**

**-Echobee**

**P.s. There's one song that comes to mind when I think about this chapter; "The Monster" by Emimen ft. Rihanna (which I don't own) I may or may not post an sort of "ending credits" song at the end of each chapter. Let me know if I should ;) **


	11. Stay

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**a/n: this chapter gets a little touchy-feely, so I hope you enjoy. If you want me to write more chapters like this, please leave a review :) **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

Bumblebee paced back and forth as Ratchet performed the surgery on the femme. His thoughts prevented him from hearing anything outside his own daydreaming. _I did this to her. Will she forgive?_ The mech sighed, thinking back to how good he had felt a few hours ago.

_Her body was pressed up against his as he held her in his arms. He remembered feeling her servos wrap around his neck, and she had whispered something that he couldn't hear. After that, Echo slipped into unconsciousness. "Ratchet!" Bumblebee shouted to the medic as they ran through the halls, "Echo's down!" _

_Ratchet had turned around and studied her situation, "Her throat needs surgery, and I need to weld the wound in her side." _

"Bumblebee!" Arcee screamed, waving a hand in front of the scout's face, "Wake up." The yellow mech turned red and stopped moving, but then looked over to where the old medic was finishing up. "You've been pacing around like that for the past few hours," the two-wheeler raised an optic ridge at him.

"Did you get a check up from Ratch yet?" Bulkhead asked, joining in on the conversation. Bumblebee glared at him_, "Of course not."_ The Wrecker held up his hands in surrender and slowly backed away several feet, "Okay, whatever you say."

Bumblebee resumed watching the surgery, crossing his servos as he watched the damage being repaired. A soft pat on his pedde let him know that Raf was standing next to him. "Hey, is she going to be okay?" the child asked, his voice cracking. _"I don't know,"_ the scout replied, internally cursing himself, like he had been ever since the femme passed out.

Trying to stay positive with himself, he couldn't help but feel something as he thought about the black Autobot in his arms. _She can be so fierce, yet so fragile._ The mech felt a twinge of possession as memories helped him feel the touch of their metal in such an intimate and protective position.

The yellow Autobot shook his helm as he felt his metal heat up, his cooling fans close to activating. "Bumblebee," Ratchet snapped from the medbay, almost giving the poor youngling a spark attack. He made his way closer to the berth, where vital scanners and an energon line were hooked up to Echo. "The surgery went well, but I don't advise anything extraneous," the medic put his tools down and began detaching the cords from her. _"Good,"_ Bumblebee said nervously, looking his _friend_ up and down.

"You would be a big help taking her to her quarters," Ratchet walked away from the berth, having finished his job. _"What? Don't you think it's too soon to move her?"_ Bumblebee protested, concerned for her well being. "Echo is stubborn," the old timer rolled his optics, "Besides, she would do better in a place that doesn't have as much traffic."

The scout nodded and shifted Echo ever so slightly so he could get his servos underneath her. Once he was able to get a sturdy grip, the mech lifted her up off the berth and held her close to his chest. Echo's helm rested on the yellow mech's shoulder, looking as peaceful as ever. _It's so fragging hard not to stare at her like this. _

Raf followed his guardian as he walked down the halls in silence, every now and then taking a peek at the sleeping femme in his arms. "'Bee?" the child called, causing the mech to snap from his thoughts, "Are you going to tell her?" The mech stared at his charge in confusion, _"Uh, tell her what?"_ The small human smirked and shook his head, walking away. _Okay…what was that about? _

Now that he was practically out of views of others, Bumblebee shifted Echo, bringing her as close as she could possibly be in her current position. The scout felt her nuzzle his shoulder in response, though still in deep recharge. Bumblebee lightly chuckled and rested his helm on her forehead as he continued walking. He wished Echo's room wasn't so close, so he could hold her all day, just like this. But eventually, the looming metal door came to destroy his moment. Bumblebee turned to his left so he could use his right hand to push the button. When the door opened, a very sleepy Cassy got up from her bed and padded over to the two.

Before the Cybertronian wolf could wake the femme up, Bumblebee shushed her, "Don't wake her up." The dog reverted to panting and sniffed the yellow mech, who smiled at her. The wolf then padded out of the room, leaving the two alone again.

Echo once again nuzzled his shoulder, sending a bittersweet sensation throughout his body. Out of instinct, Bumblebee pulled her in a tight embrace, optics turning a different shade. His cooling fans activated as his metal heated up at a rapid pace. He breathed in Echo's sweet scent, trapping Bumblebee in his mech intuition.

He shook his helm and walked over to the berth, leaning down. The femme grabbed out for something when she no longer felt the protective warmth. Even as much as he would love to stay, Bumblebee stood back, looking her over to make sure she was comfortable. Once he was satisfied, he turned to leave. But he took once last glance at the sleeping beauty. _She really is a good femme. Brave, loyal, compassionate…_ the mech looked down and sighed. _Though you cause so much pain._

* * *

_Echo open one of her eyes, noticing that she was on the move. Looking up, she saw the face of the mech haunting most of her dreams. She was being carried bridal style in Bumblebee's arms, his embrace tight, protective, and possessive. He hadn't noticed that she woke up, but she smiled all the same. "Skauti?" the femme wrapped her arms around his neck, though he didn't respond at all. "Bumblebee?" Bumblebee kept walking forwards, a blank look on his face. It was then that Echo realized where they were…and where they were going. The femme struggled and tried to get out of the mech's grip. His arms didn't budge, and stopped abruptly. Without warning, he let go of the femme, and she screamed as gravity pulled her towards the smolting pit._

The screams of the black Autobot rang throughout her bedroom. "Oh, by the AllSpark," she exclaimed, holding her chassis as her spark beat at an unnatural rate. It was moments later that the familiar sound of the scout's pedde steps banged down the hallway. He didn't even wait for her to let him in. _"Echo,"_ he rushed over to her side as she curled up into a ball, not sure if it was still a dream. The mech sat on the berth next to her, trying to coax her into a hug.

_"__Sono, it's me,"_ Bumblebee ran the back of his hand down her back, not realizing what he was doing, _"I'm not going to hurt you."_ Feeling the sensation of the scout's cool hand against her blazing hot back snapped Echo into reality. She knew that she couldn't be in a dream if she could feel everything. The mech moved over and snaked his arms around her waist, pulling the femme towards him. Echo calmed down when he began rocking her in his lap. She felt him humming as his arms soothed her. Tears weld up in her optics and her chest began to heave.

_"__If you need to cry, it's okay,"_ the mech rested his helm on top of hers, his cheek pressed against her forehead. _"Shh. Everything's going to be okay,"_ Bumblebee felt his spark ache when the femme curled up in his lap and began to sob, her coolant tears dripping down onto his broad chest.

After a few cycles of her weeping, the femme calmed down into a rhythm of hiccups. Bumblebee continued to rock her back and forth, slightly nuzzling her forehead in attempt to placate her. He smiled and savored the moment when he felt her cheek nestle his chest, even though she was still breathing heavily. "It was terrible," Echo finally said, wrapping her tail around the mech's chassis. He ignored the feelings that were washing through his spark, _"What happened?" _

Deciding to tell him this dream, Echo closed her optic shudders and sighed. "Well, I woke up, and you were carrying me through Polyhex towards the smolting pit," Echo stopped, feeling a new batch of tears coming on. Bumblebee stopped rocking and stared down at the femme, a bewildered look in his eyes. "You threw me into it," the femme said after a few nanokliks, the coolant silently streaking down her face. The mech shook his helm and pulled her off of him so they were face to face.

_"__Listen to me,"_ he said both in a demanding, yet compassionate tone as he wiped her tears away, _"I would never do anything like that. And about what happened, I,"_ he stopped when he felt her arms going around his neck once her, pulling him into a hug. "I forgive you," Echo smiled, "It wasn't your fault, anyway." Bumblebee enclosed his arms around the femme, embracing her tightly. She thought nothing of it, as if it was just a friendly gesture. They both sighed deeply, as if a giant weight was removed from their shoulders. Enjoying the silence and warmth as much as Bumblebee, Echo felt herself slowly ebbing into the temptation of sleep. As much as she would love for her and Bumblebee to fall asleep right then and there, cuddling, the femme knew that he wouldn't want that. _Or does he?_

"What time is it?" Echo asked, yawning. Bumblebee lightly laughed, "It's around 4:30." The black Autobot pulled away from the hug, "I woke you up at four in the morning? I'm so sorry!" Bumblebee laughed again, this time pulling Echo back into the hug, _"I'm not tired."_ The mech tried to stifle a yawn, but failed. "Sure," Echo teased.

_"__Are you feeling better?"_ Bumblebee asked, pressing his forehead against hers. _Great, he's going to leave now!_ The femme nodded her helm, placing a hand on the mech's chest, "Thank you."

Bumblebee got up to go, his instincts threatening to betray him. _She doesn't like you, so stop fantasizing about her!_ "Wait," the femme surprised him, freezing Bumblebee in place midstep. "Could you…um….I-I…..will you please stay?" Echo stuttered, fiddling with her fingers. The scout looked at her in shock at first, but then with sometime in between understanding an eagerness. Echo couldn't tell which it was, and she didn't really care.

She brightened up when the yellow Autobot walked back and sat on the berth, smiling at her. Echo scooted over and patted the spot next to her. At first she wondered why he was lying on his side, the front of his body pressed against her side. Then she mentally slapped herself. She had completely forgotten that he was Iaconian. _Ugh, the door wings_. "Sorry, I forgot," her cheekplates started heating up.

Even though he was turning red, Bumblebee smiled. He flipped the femme onto her side, so that he was pressed against her back. The mech then stuck his left arm out so Echo could rest her helm atop it, all the while wrapping his other servo protectively around her stomach. The male Cybertronian watched with his bright optics as the fembot slowly lulled into recharge, himself following suit.

**Song: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Tammi Terrell **


	12. Felidae

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs: Echo, Cassy, Felidae, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Chapter 12**

Raf stepped out of Bumblebee's vehicle mode, laughing at a joke his guardian had told him. "You're so funny!" the kid exclaimed, grabbing Echo's attention. She looked away from repairing the data computer. "And what has got both of you holding your sides in laughter?" she asked, teasing. Bumblebee transformed and smirked at the femme, _"Oh, nothing."_

"Sure," Echo turned back to her work, "So, Raf, how was school and book club today?" Rafael calmed down from his laughter, frowning a bit. "Um," he looked up at his guardian, who gave him a warm smile, "Can I talk to you and Bumblebee in private?" The others in the room-Arcee, Jack, Miko, Bulkhead, and Ratchet-turned to the young human. "What's wrong Raf?" Miko asked, mocking him slightly, "Don't want to tell us?"

Bumblebee stood in front of Raf and glared, _"It's between me, Echo, and Raf."_ Echo raised an optic ridge and set a hand on the mech's chest, attempting to calm him down. "Sorry Miko," Raf said, walking away. He signaled for his protectors to follow him. Bumblebee nodded at Echo and the two walked behind the kid.

Once they were gone, Jack turned to Arcee, "What was that about?" The blue and pink femme shrugged, "None of our business."

"How is it Echo's business?" Miko huffed, disappointed, "She's not even his guardian. That's Bumblebee's job." Bulkhead narrowed his optics at his charge, "Miko, she is Raf's protector as well. Yes, Bumblebee is his official guardian, but that doesn't mean Raf isn't Echo's charge, too."

"So they're playing house?" Miko smirked. "What's 'house'?" Ratchet asked, looking up from his work station. "What I mean is that they are like Raf's mom and dad," Miko answered. Arcee's optics widened, and her jaw dropped. Ratchet dropped his favorite wrench, and Bulkhead fell backwards, passing out. "What did she say?" Jack asked, staring at the unconscious Wrecker.

Bumblebee, Echo, and Raf walked into Bumblebee's room. Locking the door, Bumblebee turned to the other two, who were now sitting on the ground facing each other. "What's wrong?" Echo asked with so much concern. "I was bullied again today," Raf pulled his knees to his chest and looked away. Bumblebee sat next to Echo, one leg lying down straight, while the other was bent. The black femme sat with her legs crossed.

"By whom?" the femme asked, becoming angry. "The same kid again, Brock," Raf answered, glancing at the two Autobots in front of him.

_"__He locked Raf in the janitor's closet during school,"_ Bumblebee added softly, _"Then he stole his books and backpack after school."_ Echo narrowed her optics and began growling. Raf looked at Bumblebee, concern for Echo in his eyes. _"Sono,"_ Bumblebee chirped, holding on to Echo's servo, _"What should we do?"_

"Sono?" Raf suddenly became confused, "What does that mean?" Echo resumed a calm manner, "It means sound, or soul, in Iaconian."

"Oh," Raf said, becoming more relaxed. "I'll go with you to pick Raf up from school tomorrow," Echo turned to Bumblebee and grinned, "I have a few words to say to Brock." The yellow mech shook his helm back and forth, _"Oh no, no, no! Echo, you've already beat the kid up."_ The femme snorted and stood up, "I'm not going to hurt him."

"What are you going to do?" Raf asked. Echo smirked and flashed her tail, "Oh a little something I call humiliation."

A yellow and black Camaro pulled up to a middleschool. Parking in an empty space, the tinted black windows rolled down to reveal a human female sitting in the driver's seat. Her hair was long and curvy, medium brown with black tips. She wore blue skinny jeans and a black crop top, which exposed her fit abdomen. The human opened the door and stepped out of the car, baby blue eyes blinking as the sun hit her tanned body.

A wolf whistle came from the car, causing the female to smirk. _"I like the new look."_

_"__So this is your plan?"_ Bumblebee's beeps and chirps asked, "_Embarrass the kid? How?"_ Echo closed the driver's door and fixed her hair so that it partially flipped over onto one side. "Patience, scout," the female walked over and sat on the hood of Bumblebee's vehicle mode. The mech honked his horn in surprise when he felt her butt pressed against his hood.

The bell rang and kids poured out from the front doors. Echo stood up and made her way across to the steps where Raf usually waits for his guardian. The femme made herself comfortable leaning against the white walls surrounding the stairs. Boys gave her looks that told her the holoform she was using is a bit sexy, while girls glared at her with jealousy.

Once Echo saw Raf, she frowned as a kid walked up behind him. "You didn't pay me for leaving you alone today, shrimp!" Brock spat in Raf's face. The teen was a few years older than Raf, standing tall with blonde, spiked hair, a zip-up gray hoodie, loose pants, and sneakers. Echo ran over to Raf and tugged him away from the conversation, "Raf, I've been looking for you everywhere, mom couldn't pick you up today," she said with a smile that told him to play along.

The two walked away from Brock, who stared at Echo with something along the lines of lust. The femme ignored him as he followed her to Bumblebee.

Once she got Raf in the backseat and sat in the driver's spot, Brock leaned against the open window of the passenger seat. "Hey, baby," he smirked. Bumblebee internally frowned, beeping through the radio. In an attempt to play it cool, Echo smashed the button, turning on the radio, which covered up the mech's beeping and cursing. "You look familiar," Brock said, looking her up and down, licking his lips. "I believe I gave you a black eye," Echo fake smiled.

"Right, you're Raf's older sister," Brock took another look at her, admiring her rock-solid abs. "I don't remember being so aroused by you the last time we met." Raf's eyes widened and he gulped, fearing for Echo.

"Man, you got hot," he returned, shifting his weight, "How about you dump Shorty here off and you and me can go catch up at my place?" Before Echo could say anything, Bumblebee swung open the passenger door, hitting Brock in his manhood. The teen stumbled backwards, groaning in pain as he held his lower section.

"I think your car is broken," Brock grunted as he stood up. Bumblebee buzzed in anger and hit him again. Echo sat there with wide eyes. She frowned and punched the dashboard, earning a yelp from the scout.

"Well then, I guess we can bang another time," Brock chuckled, slamming the passenger door closed. Bumblebee rolled up the windows, strapped Echo and Raf in, and then backed out of the parking space, speeding away.

"What the hell was that?" Echo yelled at the mech once they had reached base. She got out of Bumblebee and deactivated her holoform, the black Dodge Charger a few feet away coming to life. _"I was trying to protect you!"_ Bumblebee argued, changing as well as soon as Raf got out. "We were supposed to protect Raf," the femme stomped away, towards the barracks. Bumblebee walked after her, but stopped and turned to Raf with a confused look.

"Dude, what happened?" Miko walked up to the two and frowned, "All I saw was Brock following Echo and Raf."

_"__He,"_ Bumblebee stopped, optics narrowing in fury as he clenched his hands into fists, _"Tried to hook up with Echo."_ Arcee and Bulkhead gasped and Ratchet's jaw dropped. "Perhaps the two of you shouldn't have gone to pick up Raf," Optimus said, walking into the conversation. _"What do you mean?"_ Bumblebee tilted his helm, fists still raging.

"Maybe Echo shouldn't go with you to pick up Raf anymore," Prime answered. Raf gasped, "No, that's not the whole story. Echo was protecting me from Brock, but then he followed us to the car. He tried to get Echo to…well…"

Miko's eyes widened, "No he didn't!" Bumblebee nodded, gloomy. "Then Bumblebee got rid of him," Raf continued, "But it kind of caused Brock to like her more." The scout shook with anger. He walked away, not hearing Raf calling his name.

Echo burst into her room and locked the door. Moments later, she heard a knock and knew right away who it was. "Bumblebee, I don't want to talk about it."

_"__Please?" _

Getting up, the femme opened the door, crossing her servos. _"Can I come in?"_ the scout asked. "So stupid," Echo snorted, rolling her optics. She stepped out of the way as the mech made his way into the room. "You know you just made things worse for Raf, right?"

_"__I know,"_ Bumblebee sat on the berth and lowered his doorwings. "What were you thinking? You almost revealed yourself to him," Echo lectured him, though he needed to hear the words. Bumblebee nodded after every sentence. "You could have killed him."

_"__He was going to touch you,"_ the mech sighed, wanting to get something off of his chest. _"He would have hurt you in more ways than I could hurt him. And that would have hurt me." _

His words startled Echo and she looked away from him, not knowing what to say. _"That kid should know that he can't hurt Raf. And most importantly, he can't have you,"_ the scout stood up and walked over to Echo. She sighed and rolled her optics, "Bumblebee, what you did was stupid and reckless." The mech glared at her and narrowed his optics, _"What I did kept you from getting harmed." _

"But what about Raf?" Echo protested, "Now Brock might go after him in an attempt to get me, because I didn't get the chance to tell him off." Bumblebee kept his frown, _"I thought I did a good job of telling him off."_

"Really?" Echo asked sarcastically, "Because he seemed to still be interested afterwards."

Bumblebee rolled his optics, _"A simple thank you would be nice."_ Echo shook her head, "Not after that. You almost-"

Echo was interrupted as she felt a pair of lips meet hers. In a flash, the metal plate covering Bumblebee's mouth had disappeared, and the mech placed a servo on each side of the femme's face. He met her lips in a gentle lock. Pulling away, Bumblebee stared at the femme with the same emotions she could not read before.

When Echo onlined her optics, she searched the scout's face for an answer. _"I'm sorry,"_ the mech said, softly, pressing his forehead against Echo's. The femme inhaled and flinched when Bumblebee walked away, regret in his posture. She stood there in shame, cursing herself for being so harsh.

_"__Hey, Raf,"_ the young boy's guardian startled him, _"Wanna play a video game?"_ The yellow mech seemed to be in a happy mood despite what happened, too happy. "Uh, sure," Raf looked up from the book he was reading. He grabbed a controller and waited for Bumblebee to grab the Cybertronian-sized one. "So, how'd it go?" Raf asked casually as their in-game cars raced each other. Bumblebee shrugged, expressing no emotion, _"Okay, I guess."_

"What did she say?" Raf inquired, not believing him. _"It was stupid of me to do that, and that now you'll have more problems with Brock,"_ Bumblebee stayed calm, focusing on the game. "What did you say?"

Bumblebee swerved off the road and Raf crossed the finish line. _"Um,"_ Bumblebee looked around, not noticing that he lost. _"I told her that, um."_

"You kissed her, didn't you?" Raf asked, a sad look on his face. He knew that Bumblebee wasn't talking about it because it must have been bad. _"I did,"_ Bumblebee sighed and looked down. The mech dropped to the floor and put his head on his knees, arms crossed around him. Raf got up from the couch and headed down the stairs. "'Bee, I couldn't have been that bad."

_"__It was,"_ Bumblebee looked at his charge. Luckily everyone else had left on a scouting mission, and Ratchet was working on repairs in the energon supply room. Jack and Miko were most likely playing with Cassy in the hangar bay. _"Raf,"_ the scout let a drop of coolant leave his optic, _"What am I doing? What's wrong with me?"_

Raf smiled and exhaled, "Bumblebee, I think you have feelings for Echo."

A few weeks passed and everything seemed normal at the Autobot base…except for Bumblebee and Echo ignoring each other. The other Autobots became worried when they started picking up Raf by themselves; Echo in the morning and Bumblebee afterschool and to take him home. On energon runs, the two would never team up to fight Cons like they used to.

One day, when Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead got back from picking the children up from school, Miko snapped.

The three Autobots rolled into the bunker. Bulkhead honked twice to signal their arrival, something Echo made him do to let her know when to go silent. They transformed after the kids got out of the guardians. Jack, Miko, and Raf sat on the couch by the TV and turned on some cartoons. Jack whispered something to the others and they nodded. "Hey, Echo, 'Bee," Raf called, stopping Echo in her place. Bumblebee froze midstep. The two Autobots looked at the humans with a calm expression. "Do you guys wanna watch a movie with us?"

Arcee and Bulkhead looked at the two, hopeful they would agree. After moments of silence and no response, Jack smiled, "It's about werewolves and vampires." Echo looked away, internally irritated. They knew that Echo loved werewolves, and Bumblebee vampires. Raf looked at his guardian, who shook his head. Sighing in defeat, Raf walked up to the DVD player and put the disc in.

The opening music for the movie was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", one of the black Autobot's favorite songs. Echo tensed up when she heard the lyrics. She shook her head and continued to work on a control panel, trying to keep herself from watching the movie. Bumblebee sat up against the wall, hoping he won't look at the TV, or worse, Echo.

Arcee glanced at both of them every once in awhile, studying their every move. At one point, Bumblebee took a peek and began to watch the movie. But he was in for a spark ache when the main characters, a female vampire and a male werewolf, hugged each other in the pouring rain. "Benjamin, I can't fall in love with you," the vampire pleaded as the werewolf held onto her arms. "I know what I did was stupid," he responded. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Across the room, Echo dropped a tool, her optics narrowed and ears flat. She cursed and picked up the tool. Hissing, she sat down and took the access cover off the hard drive to busy herself. Everyone took notice of her outburst, except Bumblebee.

"Emma," Benjamin's eyes began displaying sorrow and regret, "I'm sorry." With that, the werewolf left the vampire, walking out into the rain as a wolf. Emma stood there and cried, before her eyes went dark. She touched her lips and turned to the camera. The credits rolled and Jack sighed, "Oh man. It's already over?"

_"__I guess so,"_ Bumblebee muttered, getting up onto his feet. Eyes and optics watched as he walked away. He stopped behind Echo, looking down as the femme grunted. She tried to removed a bolt so she could see the assembly of wires, but it wouldn't budge. Bumblebee reached over and grabbed a wrench from the tool box a few feet away. He knelt down and placed it next to the femme's thigh. The scout stood up and continued his way to the barracks. Echo's ears pricked up when she saw a yellow hand place the wrench down next to her.

The Autobots and humans stared at her, jaws hanging and eyes wide. Miko, on the other hand, appeared furious. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?" she snapped at Echo. Bumblebee stopped on his way up the steps, looking back at the human femme. When Echo remained silent, Miko shouted, "Why can't the two of you suck up and make up?"

"You're acting like two best friends who just broke up and can't handle being mad at each other," Miko said, softer this time, "It's been hurting all of us."

Echo opened her mouth to say something, but a beep came from the data computer. "Prime!" Agent Fowler's voice banged off the walls. "He's not here, Agent Fowler," Ratchet responded, opening the transmission. "We've discovered a crash site on the coast. I need y'all to go find out what this is about. It's definitely not human technology."

"We'll see to it," Ratchet nodded as the agent cut the chat. The old medic contacted Optimus about checking the site out, while the three children grouped up. "Do you think they'll make up?" Raf asked, pushing up his glasses. "I don't know, but at least we know what to do," Jack said. Miko looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

"We need to get them alone and play that song from the movie," the oldest teen answered, "That way they'll have to say something at some point." Raf frowned, "I don't think it's good to push people together. It'll make it worse."

"We're leaving," Arcee walked over to the kids, irritation in her voice. "Good luck guys," Raf said, smiling at the bots. Cassy and Ratchet stayed behind. Optimus drove into the base, just in time to say, "Autobots, roll out!"

When the team stepped out of the groundbridge, Echo noticed a small, Cybertronian craft buried in the sand of the beach. Around them, water sapped at the bots' feet. They walked towards the ship, weapons activated.

"Stay behind me," Echo ordered, recognizing the ship. Optimus looked at her with curiosity, "Do you know this craft?" The black femme nodded. "And if I'm right, this war just became a whole lot harder," Echo sniffed the air and frowned. She ran up to the ship and walked around it, looking for the entry point. The thrusters of the ship leaked energon and oil, while the front of the ship was buried. "How did she escape?" Echo asked herself.

"She?" Optimus asked, catching up with the femme. "She is the most reckless, sadistic femme I know," Echo narrowed her optics at the mech and flicked her tail.

"I don't know about reckless."

Echo froze and turned around to see a white and blue blur pass by her. "Felidae!" the black femme hissed and bared her teeth. "Oh come now, old friend," a voice came from the other side of the ship. Bumblebee and the rest of the team looked around, trying to spot the femme in question.

"You all need to leave," Echo walked backwards, fear filling her voice. Bumblebee stepped forwards, guns out, to go around the ship. "What are you doing?" Echo shouted, pulling at the mech's servo. Bumblebee glared down at her as she walked in front of him. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him backwards. "Leave," she ordered.

A white and blue figure jumped from behind the ship, landing right behind Echo. Bumblebee pulled the femme behind him and pointed his gun at the white femme. The one known as Felidae stood up, representing the pointed and sly look of a cat. Her yellow optics pierced into the gaze of the Autobots, a white tail swaying back and forth. She had pointed fangs and canines. Like Echo, she had metal ears, perfect for hearing…and hunting.

Echo gave on last shove at Bumblebee, the mech giving up and standing next to Optimus. The Autobots stood back and watched as the exchange occurred between the two cat-like femmes. They circled around each other, preparing to fight.

"Be warned, Felidae. I will not hesitate to kill you," Echo hissed and snarled, hackles raised as she spoke to Felidae. The white and blue femme purred and smirked, "Don't worry, I'm only after you. Though, I might have to kill your precious bug." Roaring, Echo stepped closer, optics dark and tail flickering back and forth. "Nexus Prime will not approve of you. He is coming back!" The black femme shouted, "What's he going to say when he hears how many innocent you've killed?"

"Nexus Prime died stellar cycles ago during the war," The white femme snarled. "You're mistaken. He separated before leaving Cybertron. The time of his return is upon us," Echo flicked her tail back and forth.

Felidae scowled and glanced at Optimus and Bumblebee. She smirked when she saw the glaring optics of the yellow scout. "Watch your back, bug," she hissed. Echo snarled and stepped in front of her, "If you so much as lay a digit on him, I will rip out your spark and make you choke on it." Bumblebee's optics widened at the threat. The other Autobots did the same.

The blue and white femme smirked, "Temper."

Echo exhaled deeply, shoulders beginning to shake, "Leave now, and never come back." Felidae turned around and began walking. The black femme tilted her helm and raised an optic ridge.

In a flash, the blue and white femme whipped back around and slashed Echo in the face. The Autobot landed on the ground, holding her bleeding face. _"Back away from her,"_ Bumblebee activated his guns and pointed them at Felidae. Echo jumped onto the femme and pinned her arms down.

Felidae grabbed Echo's throat and hissed, choking her. The black femme let go and gasped as she was thrown yards away. Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead began firing at Felidae, but she easily maneuvered around the blasts. Bumblebee ran over to Echo and started to lift her up before he was knocked in the head by the white femme. Echo growled and stood up, kicking Felidae in the chassis.

She looked over and saw the unconscious scout. "Don't worry so much, he's replaceable," Felidae mocked, recovering from the blow. In the white femme's laughter, she was blind to Echo approaching her. The black femme twisted Felidae's arm behind her and dug her claws into the white femme's shoulder blade, causing her to cry out in pain. Felidae forced her head back, the impact of their helms crashing caused Echo to let go of her. The black femme crumpled to the ground, holding her forehead. As she stood up, she looked over at the yellow scout in concern.

Echo bore her teeth, energon appearing from a cut on her lip. "Oh, I see, you care about the scout?" the white and blue femme mocked. "All of you leave, now," Echo ordered to her fellow Autobots. Getting up, she did several backflips towards Bumblebee, who was still out. As she moved him onto his back, Felidae ran towards her, throwing a flurry of ninja stars at her old foe. Echo leaned sharply to her left and activated her gun, shooting the femme in the chest.

Felidae flew across the beach and into a jetty. Echo cried out as she felt energon on her shoulder. Glancing down, she discovered a metal disc lodged in her shoulder, and another in her abdomen.

A groundbridge opened up and Cassy jumped out. Once she noticed her master in pain, she immediately puffed her metal up and growled. Looking around, she saw Felidae getting up. The Cybertronian wolf leapt on top of the femme and attempted to rip her throat out, but was not quick enough to avoid the wrist blade pierce into her abdomen. Echo watched in horror as her pet squirmed in agony. Her vision became blurry as the energon seeped faster from her wounds.

Bumblebee's optics onlined and he sat up. He activated his guns and shot at Felidae, freeing Cassy from the pain. The scout then turned to Echo. Coolant was forming in her optics as the pain was taking over. _"Echo,"_ he placed his hands on either side of her face, _"Keep your eyes on me, okay?"_ The femme nodded as Bumblebee picked her up bridal style.

Optimus and Arcee shot at Felidae after Cassy ran away from her, going back into the groundbridge with Bumblebee. Before the Autobots had the chance to terminate the femme, she threw a round capsule onto the sand, causing a ploom of smoke to envelope her. She disappeared with the help of the ninja powder.

"You're lucky it was lodged in your shoulder, not your spark," Ratchet huffed as he welded the final wound. Echo sighed in relief as the pain was numbed when the medic injected pain killers. Across the room Bumblebee sat down on the ground, petting Cassy, whom was treated of her injury.

"I know," Echo rubbed her neck, which was sore from being choked, "We're lucky we're still alive." Optimus walked up to the femme, "Who is she?"

"That was Felidae," Echo's optics narrowed, "She is a sadistic, ruthless femme. She graduated from the Cyber-Ninja Corps and was granted a spot on the Elite Guard by her mentor, Nexus Prime, my father. But the base she was training on was bombed, and the CNA of a maximal mixed with her in the explosion. After that, she vowed to destroy every last member of the Cyber-Ninja Corps and the Elite Guard. She succeeded in wiping out the rest of the Ninja Corps, and now she is after me."

Everyone in the room stood in shock. "How does she know you so well?" Bulkhead asked. Echo sighed and sat on the edge of the medical berth, "Well, her mentor was my father. And she and I shared the same…well…interest in a mech at one point." Bumblebee flinched at the mention of an interest in someone else.

"We have to kill her," Echo exhaled deeply, "She is too dangerous." Optimus nodded in agreement. "I suggest we search for her immediately," Arcee commented.

"She would go to the nearest energon deposit," the black femme said as her pet walked over and placed her helm in her lap.

Prime walked over to the control panel and typed coordinates in. The groundbridge opened up seconds later, "Autobots, let's roll out." Bumblebee stood up to go, but was stopped by the red and blue mech, "Our patients must stay here." The scout nodded and watched as Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead transformed and went through the vortex.

Cassy whined and Echo massaged her neck, feeling bad for her pet's suffering. Bumblebee looked at the black femme out of the corner of his optic. Thinking, he walked over to the two and pet Cassy. The wolf moved and stepped away, wanting the fighting duo to make up. Echo stood up, her optics filled with shame, regret, and guilt.

Instead of saying anything, they wrapped their arms around each other in a tight hug, their apologies pouring out in the embrace. Echo held onto the scout's neck, hoping she wouldn't cry. Bumblebee kept his arms around her midsection for the same reason.

"Aww," Miko said, tilting her head as she admired them. Jack smiled as he leaned against a railing. "I knew they would make up," Raf whispered to them.

"I'm sorry," Echo whispered, her voice shaking from holding back her tears. She felt Bumblebee's embrace tighten, _"Me too."_

**Song: "Once Upon A Dream" by Lana Del Rey **


	13. Find You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Felidae, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

_The stars are so beautiful._ Bumblebee sat on the edge of the cliff, staring out in awe at the bright lights in the sky. It amazed him how something so small could be so beautiful. _If only Echo knew about this._ The mech looked down, sighing. _I have to tell her at some point._

"I thought I would find you here," the black Autobot almost scared the scout to death. _"Sorry, I didn't hear you coming,"_ Bumblebee patted the spot next to him. "This is amazing," the femme exclaimed, taking up the space, "Now I know where you go at night."

_"__What? How'd you know?"_ his optics widened. "'Bee, you would come into my room awake, there's no way you could have just woken up from recharge. You would fall asleep in a blink of an eye," Echo smirked while she continued to gaze up at the sky. _"Right,"_ Bumblebee sighed, remembering all those nights he would hear her scream as he went off to go sleep. _Funny how she would get up from a nightmare just as I was going to sleep. _ _"I'm sorry for ruining the plan." _

"Don't be," Echo turned to the mech with a warm smile, "I was the one who overreacted." The scout smiled back and looked out at a cluster of white dots, _"I couldn't stand the thought of you being hurt by him like that." _The black Autobot leaned her helm against his shoulder, "Thank you, for everything." Sighing in relief, Bumblebee wrapped an arm around the femme's shoulders, resting his head against hers._ I wish I could tell you._

"We've been searching for weeks," Bulkhead spoke up from logging his mission, "I don't think we're going to find her this easy." Bumblebee, who was preparing to go back out and search, turned to the green mech and raised an optic ridge, _"How else are supposed to look for a sadistic, psycho-crazy femme?"_ The Wrecker shrugged and continued typing on the data computer.

"While we do not have the resources to track Felidae remotely," Optimus walked into the main room, "We do have one who knows her abilities." The red and blue mech looked at Echo, whom was checking her weapons. "True, and I have an idea," the femme said whilst glancing at her energon meter.

_"__And that is?"_ Bumblebee asked, smirking. "We're going back to the crash site to track her from there," Echo walked over to Bumblebee and nodded to Ratchet. The medic activated the groundbridge, and Bumblebee transformed into his vehicle mode, _"Ready to go?"_

"As I'll ever be," Echo did her usual backflip as she converted. The two drove through the bridge side by side. On the other side, the crashed Cybertronian ship was still there, half buried. "Ugh," Echo exclaimed when she saw a pool of dried energon, likely hers. _"So how does this go again?"_ Bumblebee asked, looking around. Echo chuffed and exhaled, "Pretty much we have to scout the area and search for clues. That's why I brought you." Bumblebee faked a pout, _"Awe, I thought you wanted me here to protect you." _

"None needed, skauti," the femme flicked her tail and smirked at the mech. As they made their way towards the ship, Bumblebee laughed, _"You know, I still haven't heard you sing."_ Echo faced him and raised an optic brow, "I haven't seen you dance."

_"__Touché,"_ Bumblebee nodded and started walking in a random direction. "Where do you think you're going?" Echo teased, bending down to inspect a pool of energon, not dried up. _"I found something,"_ the scout stood above a something that resembled a pouch. Echo smirked, "That quick, huh?" Her expression fell when she opened the package. _"Echo, is that-"_

Darkness.

"…you need to wake up," someone was crying. Another voice was shouting, and multiple scanners were beeping. "…been out for a week." _How long have I been out? A week?_ "…died back on the beach or was capture…" _WHAT?_

A voice called out in joy as the patient opened her eyes. Echo looked around, hoping to see her scout among the group. To her horror, everyone was there, but him. Her vision was still blurry, so she prayed that she had just been hearing things. The sad faces and coolant streaks on the cheeks of her fellow Autobots and humans didn't help the outcome.

"Take it easy," Ratchet rested a servo on the femme's shoulders as she sat up. "What happened?" Echo asked with a blank look on her faceplates, not sure if she really wanted to know. "Bumblebee is…gone." The black Autobot stared at the medic, optics blazing as they thinned into ovals. Echo stood up quickly on the berth, glaring down at the bots, "What did you just say?"

"I'm no longer reading his signal," Ratchet tried to get her to sit down, to no avail. "But, but, how?" the fembot finally sat down, "Did you see his body?" The other Autobots shook their helms. Echo scowled at nothing, her teeth gritted. Her head turned sharply towards the groundbridge controls. Yanking the cords attached to her, Echo got off the berth regardless of the medic's protests. Once the groundbridge opened up, she transformed, screaming, "Felidae!"

Echo came back, something in her hand, her battlemask on. "Echo," Ratchet cautiously approached the femme. She shoved the object into the medic's hands and walked over to the data computer. The other Autobots walked over to Ratchet and gasped. In his hand was half a dose of Bumblebee's energon. "Where did you get this?" Optimus bellowed, glaring at Echo.

"I found that on the beach," the black Autobot still had her mask on, not want them to see her face. "There's only one place she could have gone," Echo snarled, "Look at the markings on the container." Ratchet ran a digit over the symbols, his optics growing wide when he finished reading them, "The Decepticon warship?"

"That's not the only thing I found," Echo said, holding up a disc, "Members of the Cyber-Corps would sneak playable discs disguised as ninja stars. So if the Cons did take Bumblebee, they didn't think much to take this."

"How do you know it's not a ninja star?" Arcee inquired stepping closer to Echo. The black Autobot inserted the disc into a port on the side of the computer. A loading image appeared on the screen. "It was the only star there," Echo whispered, deactivating her battlemask.

Everyone yelped in shock as the severely damaged form of the Autobot, his body marred with cuts and dents. A pool of his energon was forming underneath him as he was hung by his wrists. Bumblebee's optics were offline and his helm rolled to the side. "I told you I might have to hurt him," snickered a femme voice. The sadistic Felidae walked into the frame, smirking. Her claws were dripping with the scout's blood. Echo began growling, her eyes turning yellow and thin. "He's very resilient, you know? Too bad," the white femme faked a pout, before laughing maniacally.

"I'll give you two weeks from the activation of this disc. At that point, I will draw not half, but a full dose of energon from your beloved scout every day until he dies," Felidae reached her claws up and punctured Bumblebee's abdomen. "No!" Echo screamed as the femme removed her hand, his energon dripping out slowly. "Don't worry," the sadistic voice ran chills up the Autobots' spines, "I'll attach a tracking frequency so you can call and see how he is."

As the femme walked out of view, Bumblebee's head lifted up. He looked so beaten and defeated that Echo couldn't help but whimper. _"Echo, it's a trap,"_ his hoarse beeps came out, _"Don't come after me."_

With that, the message ended, and everyone looked to Echo for guidance. Her tears threatened to flow down her cheeks. The femme scowled and pulled up the frequency, careful to shield the location of their base.

"Why hello old friend, I thought you would show up," Felidae mocked, cruel as ever. "Where is he?" Echo snarled, eyes still piercing. "Like I would tell you," the femme replied, "I would hurry if I were you. He's starting to look a little pale. You have two weeks before I start draining him."

"Where'd you get the container?" Echo asked, trying to gain information the clever way. "Where else? The Nemesis," Felidae smirked. "So you're on the warship?" Echo cocked an optic ridge. "Of course. It's the only place you can't get me," the white femme hissed, smiling.

Echo ended the transmission and stood there in silence. "Oh I'll find you alright," the black Autobot took out the disc and attached it to her hip. "Echo, where are you going?" Optimus asked as the femme began logged coordinates on the groundbridge control. "I'm going after Bumblebee," she glared and whistled to Cassy, who came up running. The two of them went through the groundbridge.

"Do you think she'll find him?" Bulkhead asked the group. Raf, who had been watching the whole time, spoke up, "She will. Or she'll die trying."

**Song: "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry **


	14. Rescue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Felidae, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Chapter 14**

Echo breathed in the scent of the Rockies, the smell of pine and water filled her sensors. The glorious mountains stood behind her, daunting and beautiful at the same time. She had tracked the Nemesis to this location, as the nearest energon deposit was only a few kliks away from her position. If her hunch was correct, the Decepticons would be there any minute now to collect the precious fuel. And where there were Cons, there was a way to Bumblebee.

Sneaking through the pine forest, the femme made her way towards a massive lake, the mountains reflecting off its blue surface. There, she grabbed an odd looking rock and inspected it. Cybertronian markings were carved out. This was the signal she and Cassy used to tell where each other had been. The two weeks were almost up, and the two had traveled in a curvy path from each energon mine to the next. They finally figured out the code to which the Cons picked up their supplies.

Echo grabbed an equally sized rock and imprinted her mark using her sharp digits. Putting it down next to the other, the femme looked around to see if her pet had left any other clues. A few yards away sat a giant boulder, and the Autobot immediately discovered the message dug into its side, "Mimi niko hapa." Echo sighed in relief and smiled. _She's here._

The black Autobot glanced at the bank on the other side of the lake. Hoping for the best, Echo chirped, sending a loud echo throughout the Rockies. The sound traveled far, ensuring that if Cassy was still there, she would hear it.

Moments later, a robotic-like howl proved Echo's suspicions. The femme sat down and waited for the wolf to find her, every now and then chirping so the Cybertronian dog could easily pin point her location. They would need to stick together if they were to have a chance at getting the scout back. Time was running out, and Bumblebee wouldn't be able to withstand much longer, especially when the sadistic feline was taking his life force.

* * *

A series of growls and howls came from the other side of the lake. Echo looked up and saw a silver figure galloping across the shore. "Cassy!" the femme called out in joy. The wolf turned and jumped into the lake, swimming over to her master. Echo shook her head and laughed, "I would have come to you, silly."

"I know," Cassy said sloppily as she came out of the water, shaking the water off, "All I found was the energon mine at the base of the mountain." Echo nodded, "Me too. We need to ambush the Decepticons when they get here."

"That's the thing," Cassy pointed her muzzle in the direction she came from, "I believe I saw the Nemesis." The black femme pet her helm and scratched underneath the wolf's chin. "We're going to get him back, don't worry," Cassy nudged her owner's hand. "How long until the warship gets here?" Echo asked, looking up at the bright blue sky, not a single cloud.

"Maybe a few cycles," the Cybertronian wolf tasted the air and her metal began to stick up, "Maybe less than that." Echo breathed in and out slowly, bracing herself. The two had made sure that they would have enough energon before they left base almost two weeks ago. Even then, the black Autobot was worried that they wouldn't be able to bring the scout back.

The two hid in the pine trees as the familiar hum of the craft's engines floated over the area. A shadow enveloped them as the Nemesis descended. It stopped around a hundred yards above the ground at the base of the mountain. Purple Seekers lined the top front of the ship, scouting the region. A yellow tube protruded from the belly of the Con warship, lowering down, carrying a few miners and a drill.

"We should sneak aboard on that," Echo whispered as they slowly crept towards the energon mine. Cassy moved faster than Echo, as she was built better for trekking through biomes such as these. Echo looked up and saw the platform go back into the ship. "Cassy," she called, stopping her pet, whom was yards ahead of her, "I know that's not all the miners they're going to bring, so it's timed." The wolf nodded in understanding, continuing on. _Bumblebee, we're coming._

* * *

"She will come after you, scout," Felidae snickered, grasping onto the Autobot's faceplate. The mech was too weak to tear away from her, but he glared at her all the same. The white femme slightly scowled at the scout's silence. "I'll make you crack at one point," Felidae said as she formed a thought. With the most sadistic smile she could mutter, the femme moved her hand to trail around the mech's lower abdomen as she circled him. Bumblebee remained silent, staring off at nothing.

The cat hissed when she received no reaction to her motions. She used her tail to slowly rub Bumblebee's inner thigh, "And when she gets here, I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully right in front of her." Felidae smirked when she received wide optics as her tail traveled higher. The femme, experienced with mechs and their hotspots, snaked her hand underneath Bumblebee's chest, earning a slight whimper. "I know that you're dying to know what I'll do to her."

Bumblebee shot her a look that could kill, beginning to shake with rage. His hands clenched into fists, causing his restraints to creak. Felidae removed her hand and tail, reaching her servos to his abdomen, slightly pressing her body up against his. "I'll let her savor your death while she rots in a cell for stellar cycles. That way, she knows the very pain I went through. And then, I will claw her open and crush her spark in my hands," she said, baring her teeth. Bumblebee finally lost it, _"I swear, once I get out of here, I will rip your spark out and throw your useless carcass over a cliff!"_

Felidae smirked in triumph, "I told you I would crack you." She stepped away from him and gave her hands and tail a disgusted look. "Looks like your time is running out," she said as she checked the date, "I start taking your blood tonight." Bumblebee scowled, _"I'm willing to die a slow death for her." _Felidae snorted and walked out of the room.

The scout let the coolant fill up in his optics, _"Echo, I'm so sorry."_

* * *

"There's about fifteen miners and a few Seekers," Cassy reported back as Echo hid behind a cluster of trees. The black femme was peeking around a tree, staring at the yellow platform, which was currently full of a drill and energon storage cubes. "Good job," Echo praised, "We need to wait for the miners to take the drill off. Then when they put the energon on the platform, we'll sneak on and hitch a ride."

Cassy panted, "Sounds good to me." The two sat there and waited. About twenty Earth-minutes passed before the Cons went back, a few energon crystals along with them. One of the miners climbed onto the drill and turned its engines on, making his way back to the mine. The Seekers who helped him carry over the energon turned and followed him.

Echo smiled and motioned for Cassy to follow her. They stepped onto the platform and hid behind the crystals and energon cubes, ducking down so they were completely hidden. The two Autobots then waited again until the Decepticons brought more energon. Eventually they did, packing a few more giant crystals on the last amount of space there was. "Alright," one of the miners spoke through his comm., "Pull it up." The two Autobots exhaled as the yellow platform began to ascend.

"We just need to sneak past any security," Echo rubbed Cassy's ears, giving her a nod.

The platform gave a hiss as it connected back with the Nemesis. A Vehicon, whom was previously standing at the controls, motioned a group of laborers over to collect the energon. Echo frowned and looked around. They were still hidden behind the crystals, so the Cons had not yet spotted them, but if they removed them, then her and Cassy were goners. Seeing a gap behind a stack of cubes, the femme grabbed a round sphere and threw it at the wall on the other side of the room. The ball exploded, creating a distraction.

The Decepticons were too busy trying to find out what happened to see two Autobots creeping off the platform and behind the energon cubes. Echo sighed in relief when the purple mechs shrugged it off and continued on to do their job. Cassy tapped her arm and the black femme looked over to see her pet motioning towards a vent in the wall. Smirking, Echo silently removed the covering and had Cassy go first to scout it out.

When the wolf came back, she nodded at her master, signaling for her to follow. The femme turned around and replaced the vent cover.

* * *

"Guess what?" Felidae walked through the brig doors, a fake smile playing on her lips as she took in the defeated form of the Autobot scout. He raised his helm ever so slightly to glower at the femme. "A Con thought he saw a silver wolf running about as the ship was on its way to the energon mine." Bumblebee's optics widened and his spark gave out a sharp pulse.

"You know what that means," Felidae grinned, "She came for you after all. How sweet." The fembot's white tail flickered back and forth. Bumblebee's helm lowered and he couldn't help but let a tear streak his faceplate. "Wow, the bug actually has feelings," the evil Cybertronian scoffed and stepped towards the scout, "Perhaps I should end you here and now." The yellow mech didn't respond and looked away.

"Not yet," Felidae frowned, "I'll finish you off in front of your sparkmate." That caught Bumblebee's attention, _"We're not sparkmates, so don't think killing me will slowly off her."_ The femme raised an optic ridge, "Don't play games with me, scout. I'm going to do to her what she did to me all those years ago. She killed my mate, so I will kill hers."

_"__I wouldn't bet on that if I were you,"_ Bumblebee laughed, _"We're not mated."_ Felidae growled and sauntered away, leaving the mech to grieve. _"I told you not to come."_

* * *

Cassy huffed when she spotted an opening to a control room. "Perfect," Echo smiled, clicking her tongue for the dog to go out in that direction. Fortunately, there were no Cons nearby, so the femmes were able to access the data computer easily. Echo looked around for a security camera. Not seeing one, she walked over to the computer and hacked into the security footage. Echo searched throughout the ship, trying to find the scout.

She and Cassy both gasped when they spotted the mech in the brig, bleeding and broken. Bumblebee had coolant streaks across his faceplate, his optics still online. Echo plotted a route to the cell, her expression becoming darker as every second passed. Once she found her way, she turned around to hear footsteps coming their way. She and Cassy ran to opposite sides next to the door, ready to run out when it opened.

Knock Out came through the door, screaming when the femmes passed by him. "Autobots!" he yelled, running over to the computer. He slammed on a button, and the alarms went off, signaling intruders.

Vehicons poured out into the hallways as Echo and her pet ran down the various paths. "Stop!" they called after her, shooting them. The black Autobot laughed and transformed, speeding down as a Dodge Charger. Cassy followed suit into her silver motorcycle. The two were easily able to dodge the shots, getting to their destination at a faster pace.

Echo slammed her breaks when she turned around a corner, Megatron walking towards them. "You are foolish to come here, femme," he snarled, standing still. "Cassy, keep going!" the Autobot ordered as she converted and stood in front of the gladiator. The motorcycle passed through the leader's legs and made a sharp turn into another set of hallways. The Vehicons who were chasing them stopped to watch the conflict between Megatron and Echo.

The black Autobot activated her weapons and glared at the silver mech, "I heard you've been picking stray cats off the street." Megatron snorted and smirked, "Felidae has been a major supporter to the Decepticon cause for years."

"She's only here for me," Echo raised an optic ridge, "Do you really expect her to follow you? She is rogue, and she doesn't follow orders, no matter who they came from." The silver mech laughed, "Perhaps, but she still has the skill and potential to offline any of you."

Echo smirked, "That same theory can be applied to the Decepticons. She didn't hesitate to dissect them during the war." Megatron growled and raised his gun to shoot the femme, who merely laughed and dodge the shot. She threw a sphere at the ground and disappeared, causing the warlord to huff in frustration.

* * *

Outside the brig, a vent cover faltered and an angry Cybertronian wolf emerged. Her canines bared, the femme raised to her hind legs and smacked a paw at the control panel, opening the door. Inside was Bumblebee, who raised his head and gasped. _"Cassy, run!"_

Felidae appeared from a shadow on the other side of the room, a ninja star glistening in her servo, "Let's see what Echo's pet can do."

* * *

A black Autobot ran down the hallways, breathing hard. She was now free from the chase of the Vehicons, but now she had to get to the brig before Felidae found out she was there. The femme's optics narrowed in determination, her strides long and quick. As she rounded a corner, she tilted her body to the side and continued running. The door to the brig came into view eventually, looming and dormant.

Echo took a deep breath and activated her weapons. Checking to make sure they worked, she shot at the control panel, which opened the doors. When it opened, Felidae was sitting in the middle of the room in a meditative position. "I knew you were coming."

"How could I not?" the black Autobot looked around the room and spotted Bumblebee, who was now strapped to an interrogation table. His optics displayed fear as he frantically tried to get out of the restraints. Before Echo could attempt to free him, Felidae stood up and faced her, "I guess it's a good thing you came. Your scout donated some energon."

Echo shot a look at Bumblebee and noticed two full doses of energon in containers at his side. "I knew I couldn't trust you to wait two weeks," the black femme snarled, activating her battlemask. Felidae ran at the femme and punched her in the chassis. Echo landed on her back, growling. She stood up and kicked Felidae square in the chest, sending her flying over Bumblebee and into a pile of empty energon cubes. The femme roared in rage and flipped back onto her peddes. Echo brought her fists up as Felidae hopped over the table and made a slash at her with her claws. The black Autobot ducked and kneed her in the chassis, finishing it off with a punch to the face. Felidae swiped her leg, sending Echo onto the ground. She leaned down and grabbed the femme by her neck cables and lifted her up. Echo retaliated by pushing off of her, using the femme's chest as a launch. The black Autobot back flipped several times, landing and pointing her gun at her foe.

Felidae swerved and dodged the blue lasers and jumped onto the Autobot, wrestling with her. Back on the table, Bumblebee was struggling to free himself, causing his wrists to dent and start to bleed. He grimaced from the pain, though he was used to it as a scout. The yellow mech looked back to the fight and felt a wave of concern flow into his spark as he saw Felidae gaining the upper hand.

The white femme grabbed Echo's wrist as she pinned her to the ground. She used her fangs to bite the Autobot's arm, causing her to scream in agony as an acidic venom made its way into her veins. _"Echo!"_

Echo used the opportunity to head butt Felidae, who stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. She attempted to stand up, but Echo grabbed her neck and threw her hard into the wall, knocking her out. Instead of finishing the duel once and for all, the black femme decided to free Bumblebee.

The mech was still struggling as Echo came over. She released the restraints on his wrists and feet. Bumblebee sat up and wrapped his arms around her, sighing in relief. The fembot returned the hug and exhaled, "I thought you were dead."

_"__I'm not, thanks to you,"_ Bumblebee pulled away and got off the berth. Echo reached out a servo to support him, but he declined, _"I'm good."_

"Are you sure?" the femme asked, glancing at his broken and bleeding form. He nodded, "But I need to get you to Ratchet." Echo smiled and activated her comm., "Ratchet?"

The Autobot medic did not respond and Echo felt like she could slap herself. "Since the alarms are going off, I can't reach out to them."

_"__Then we need to get off this ship,"_ Bumblebee slowly made his way to the door, holding an arm over his chassis. "How?" Echo looked around, "Where's Cassy?"

_"__Felidae got to her, but she ran out of the room,"_ Bumblebee answered, concern for the wolf filling his optics. As if on cue, a silver figure came out from the vent in the hallway. "I found a way out," the wolf said, taking in the condition of the two.

"Good girl," Echo praised, knowing what her pet meant. She turned to Bumblebee, "We have to jump off the ship." The mech smiled and gave her a reassuring squeeze, _"Go out with a bang."_ Cassy whimpered and motioned for them to follow her. "If we have any chance of surviving, we should jump off the front," Echo suggested as they sneaked their way down the hall, "That way we can land on the mountain.

_"__Rolling down a mountain?"_ Bumblebee joked, though his beeps were weak, _"Sounds fun."_ Echo's thoughts raced through her head as they continued on, "How are you not bleeding right now?"

Fright and hurt flashed across Bumblebee's face, _"She kept stitching me back up after every dissection."_ Echo froze and her optics widened, "Y-You…s-s-she what?" The scout turned to her and cupped her cheek, _"Echo, we need to keep moving if we want to survive."_

"I know," she closed her optics and inhaled. The mech kissed her forehelm and grabbed her hand, her optics widened at his gesture. She purred and the two continued on to the hangar of the warship.

* * *

The brightness of the sunlight blinded Bumblebee, who had not seen daylight in weeks, for a few moments. The Nemesis was still anchored over the energon mine, the Rockies in front. "That's where the tour ends," Echo joked, helping Bumblebee over to the front. But when they were halfway to the edge of the ship, a loud cackle came from behind them, "Well then."

The three Autobots turned around and saw Megatron standing at the entrance of the hangar bay. "We have to go, now!" Echo pushed the scout towards the edge. He looked at her, wanting to jump off as a team. She activated her gun and shot at the Decepticon as he walked closer, still laughing, "Bumblebee, go!"

The yellow mech beeped a whimper, but still turned and hopped off. Echo activated her battlemask and continued firing whilst Cassy followed Bumblebee. Megatron raised his gun and sent a flurry of shots towards the femme, catching her in the shoulder. She spiraled backwards and fell off the ship. "Destroy them!" Megatron ordered through his comm. link.

Red lasers shot at the mountain as the Autobots slid down, causing rocks to crumble above them. "Bumblebee, watch out!" Echo yelled to the mech, who rolled around below her. Cassy was tumbling, likely breaking a few limbs. The Cons below ran away as they saw the commotion.

Echo cried out as she, Bumblebee, and Cassy were thrown off the mountain when a massive boulder crashed down. "Ahhhh," the black femme hit a tree and starfished down to the ground, rolling for a few kliks. She shook her helm and gasped as the large boulder rolled towards her, knocking dozens of trees down in its way. The femme stood up and began running, her body screaming in pain. The rock eventually cornered her as she came to a dead end against a rock formation. Echo jumped to the side as it crashed into the wall.

A silver blur padded up to her, limping and whining. She looked up and around, "Bumblebee!" Echo sprinted through the pine forest over to where the energon mine was now blocked up. Among the pile of rocks was a yellow and black mass, lines of blue liquid across his form. Fearing the worst, Echo climbed through the boulders and stood over him. She sighed in relief as she saw he was still online. _"I told you it looked like fun,"_ he teased, sitting up.

Echo rolled her optics and smirked, "It's amazing how you still have a sense of humor." She knelt down and assessed the scout's injuries, "Don't move." He winced and groaned as the femme popped a joint back in place. "Ratchet?" Echo spoke into her comm., hoping he would answer.

"Echo? You had us all worried sick," the medic responded, earning a wide grin from the black Autobot. Bumblebee pulled the femme towards him and leaned in to her comm., _"You guys aren't the only ones."_

"Bumblebee? Is that you?" the scout heard his charge asked, his voice cracking. _"I think so,"_ Bumblebee joked, still using the femme's link as his was too damaged. Echo chuckled, "Bumblebee needs medical attention immediately. We had to," she looked at the yellow Autobot, who smirked, "improvise."

"We'll be right there," Optimus stated.

Within moments, a green and blue groundbridge opened up, and the Autobot leader emerged. Echo offered Bumblebee a hand and helped him to his feet. The mech went down the rock pile first, and then turned around to help his friend down as well. Echo was rubbing her arm where Felidae had bitten her. _"She needs medical attention too,"_ Bumblebee said as he slowly walked towards the groundbridge. The femme stopped rubbing her arm and ignored the pain. _I can't tell him._

**Song: "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars**

**a/n: Now that BB is back :), it's time for the 'bots to celebrate a well known holiday. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Thank you for all the support!**

**-Echobee**


	15. When We're Ready

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Felidae, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

"Hey guys!" Jack exclaimed as the 'bots came back from a quick drive, "My mom is throwing a Christmas party. Want to come?" Echo converted and gave the human a raised optic ridge. "What's Christmas?" she asked, tilting her helm. Bumblebee got up next to her and smiled, _"It's a human holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus." _

"It's a day of prayer and worship," Raf added, waving at the femme, "We usually give each other gifts and sing carols." Echo smiled a bit before frowning in confusion, "Carols?" Bumblebee laughed and shook his helm, _"Holiday songs." _

Echo's optics widened, "Singing? Cool!" She flicked her tail and nodded, "I'll come." Miko joined the conversation, "Awesome, but you should probably change your holoform if you want to be around Jack's mom."

"Why?" the black femme chuckled. _"It's a little, well,"_ Bumblebee turned red, rubbing the back of his neck, _"Sexy."_ Echo smirked and raised an optic ridge, "Really? I never knew." She pouted sarcastically and made her best puppy face. Bumblebee rolled his optics and stood up straight, _"Show off."_ The black Autobot laughed and pointed at his puffed out chest, "You're not too humble yourself, scout."

"Calm down," Bulkhead laughed, patting Bumblebee and Echo on the back, "You two can flirt later." Echo rolled her eyes and smacked the Wrecker's chest while Bumblebee turned red from embarrassment. "So, when is this party?" Arcee came in, trying to change the subject. "Next week," Jack smiled, "So you better get shopping."

"Hey, we need to go home," Miko said innocently, turning to Bumblebee, "Can 'Bee take all three of us?" Echo, Arcee, and Bulkhead exchanged a look. "Um, okay," the black lieutenant said, shrugging. Bumblebee tilted his helm before he nodded, _"Okay, let's go."_

Once all three of the children and the scout had left, Echo narrowed her optics and glared at the two-wheeler and the Wrecker, "What are they up to?" Arcee shrugged and Bulkhead stifled a smile. "Wrecker," Echo threatened, her glower becoming more intense. "Just a good talk about what happened a few weeks ago," the green mech turned around and hurried out. The femme huffed and rolled her optics, "Sure."

_"__So why do you guys want me to drive all of you?"_ Bumblebee asked, confused. "What's he saying?" Miko tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at Raf. "He's asking why we wanted him to drive all of us," the boy responded, smiling. "We wanted to talk to you about the party," Jack replied, leaning back in the passenger seat. "You need to get Echo something," Miko blurted out, smiling with her usual punk-style.

_"__What?"_ Bumblebee chirped, _"But I don't know what she likes."_ Jack sighed, understanding the hesitation in the beeps, "Get her something sweet."

"No," Miko punched Jack's arm, "He needs to get her something romantic." Bumblebee slightly swerved on the road. _"But we're not a couple,"_ the mech protested. "'Bee, we all can tell you have something for her," Raf argued, "Plus, you haven't told her yet, so now would be the perfect time."

_"__Raf, I need to tell her when I'm ready,"_ Bumblebee sighed, _"When we're ready."_

"Arcee," Echo walked up to the femme, who was typing something on her data pad. "Hey, Echo," the two-wheeler smiled and turned the device off, setting it on a storage container. "Can I talk to you?" Arcee nodded, "Of course."

The black Autobot took a deep breath, "Bumblebee and the kids have been acting weird lately. Do you know what's going on?" Her friend sighed, closing her optics, "Echo, I think that since you and Bumblebee are such close friends, that the humans are taking it the wrong way. They think that the two of you are a thing, not just friends." Echo bowed her head as she took in the information, "What do you think they're going to tell him?"

"Probably something about Christmas presents," Arcee chuckled, "I love them, but they can be really noisy."

"What should I get him?" Echo surprised the blue and pink femme. "You want to get him something?" a smirk began to form on her faceplates. "It's the least I could do after all he has done for me," the black femme looked away, regret and gratitude both shining in her baby blue optics. Arcee set a comforting hand on the femme's arm, "What do you think he would like?"

"I don't know," Echo brightened up, "That's why I'm asking you. You're like a sister to him." Arcee smiled and nodded her thanks, "Maybe try a keepsake. On Earth, humans give each other things to remember them by. Do you have anything like that?"

Echo narrowed her optics in thought, "Hmm."

Bumblebee came back from dropping the kids off, attempting to rub one of his doorwings. "You okay?" Echo walked up to him, her optics fixated on his wing. _"Miko slammed my door and kicked it,"_ the mech answered, lightly chuckling. "Feisty, isn't she?" Echo laughed walking behind him to inspect the sore doorwing. "It'll just be really sore for a few days," the black femme stepped back and raised an optic ridge, "Weird how they all wanted you to take them, huh?"

_"__Just being little troublemakers, I guess,"_ the scout smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're doing it again," Echo narrowed her optics and crossed her arms. _"Doing what?"_ Bumblebee turned away as his cheeks became red. "That," she pointed at his servo, which was behind his head, "Why do you keep doing that?"

_"__I don't know what you're talking about,"_ the yellow Autobot chuckled and began walking towards his room. Echo tilted her helm, "Goodnight, scout." Bumblebee looked over his shoulder and smiled, _"Goodnight, Sono."_

_"__Where am I?" Echo asked as she opened her eyes. Around her was a canyon, gray and gloomy. Yards away were a pile of rocks. "This is where your scout defeated Skyquake," a femme voice spoke to her. Echo turned around and saw the last person she expected, "Bluespark!" The black Autobot ran over and embraced her younger sister, who returned the hug. "I thought you had died at Polyhex." _

_"__Dear sister, my spark still beats," the blue and gray femme smiled, "I still live." Coolant filled Echo's optics. "He's very brave, you know," her sister walked over and inspected the gravesite. When the black femme tilted her helm, Bluespark continued, "Your scout. He's loyal and brave." _

_"__I know," Echo smiled, looking back at the many times he had saved her. "You should tell him," the younger sister said, pointing to her wrist. "I can't," the Autobot stuttered, "They'll never believe me if I told them." _

_"__Bumblebee will believe you," Bluespark rested a hand on Echo's shoulder, "He was never hostile because he hated you." _

_"__What?" Echo began to frown, "He did. But then we got to know one other and settled our differences." Bluespark shook her helm, "Sister, I believe you and the scout need to have a deep conversation." _

Echo sat up, not screaming, but narrowing her optics in confusion. _"Are you okay?"_ Bumblebee's soft beeps scared the femme half to the Pit. She turned and saw the mech's hand around her waist as he laid down on his side next to her. "Sorry, I didn't know you were there," she shook her head and took a deep breath. _"I heard you talking in your sleep,"_ Bumblebee removed his hand and threw one leg over the edge of the berth, _"I'll go if you want me to."_

"No," Echo grabbed his hand and closed her optics, "I just had a really weird dream." The scout smiled and got back on the berth as the femme laid down. He wrapped his servos around her and soothed her with his soft humming. Echo began to fall asleep, as if his buzzing was hypnotizing. She purred as the mech rubbed her side. He smiled as the femme fell into recharge, _"When we're ready."_

"Good morning," Raf greeted Echo as he stepped out of Bumblebee. The femme yawned and smiled, "Good morning, Raf." She stretched and got to work on the computer. Bumblebee transformed and smirked, _"I'm guessing you haven't woken up yet."_

"Haha," Echo pretended to laugh, "Just adjusting my eyes." The scout narrowed his optics as he continued to smirk, _"Sure."_ The children and Bumblebee made their way over to the TV area to play a few video games. Raf suggested a racing game, and the others agreed. A few minutes later, Arcee walked over to their conversation. "Shouldn't we be getting ready for the party?" Arcee asked, cocking a hip out. "It's in a few days, 'Cee," Jack chuckled. "I'm talking about the base. Shouldn't it look like Christmas?"

"Jack, let me know if your mom needs help with the party," Echo smiled, returning to her work. "Thanks, Echo. 'Cee, do you guys have supplies to decorate this place?" Jack put down the controller as his car was thrown off the road. "Oh, how about Echo and 'Bee come with us to the mall?" Miko suggested, throwing her controller at the TV, "They can help us pick out stuff."

_"__Do you have money?"_ Bumblebee asked, exiting the game. "Doesn't Agent Fowler have a savings account for us in case of emergencies?" Raf asked, standing up. Echo brought a digit to her lip in thought before nodding, "Yeah, I think there's a few thousand dollars. But I don't know if he would appreciate us using that if it wasn't an emergency."

"He won't care," Miko waved it off with her hand. Echo shrugged and turned to Ratchet, "Where's the savings?" The medic huffed and rolled his optics, "In the storage room. You'll have to use your holoform to get it."

"Wow," Echo gasped and held onto Bumblebee's arm, pointing at a display of lights, "They're beautiful!" The yellow mech smiled and wrapped an arm around her, gazing at one of the frosted Christmas trees. "You guys don't have holidays?" Miko asked, giggled at the two. Echo shook her head and saw her reflection in a bulb.

"We celebrated Spark Days but that was this," the femme frowned for a bit, "There was no time during the war for any more than that." Bumblebee rubbed her back and gave her a smile. "Really?" Raf asked, looking down. Echo shrugged, "Hey, but let's focus on this holiday. I can't choose what we should get."

"I suggest a Christmas tree and maybe a reef," Jack smiled, pointing at the massive green circle with a red bow. "That'll do," the scout chuckled and check the price tag. He nodded, signaling it was within their budget. Echo walked over and stared at a tree that was a few feet taller than she. "What about this one?"

"I love it," Miko exclaimed, jumping up and down. "My mom has some extra bulbs we could use," Raf said as Bumblebee went looking for a manager. "I wish we had this on Cybertron," Echo sighed, looking at the tree with a glimmer in her blue eyes. "Maybe when this war is over, you guys can celebrate it every year," Jack patted her on the shoulder, earning a warm smile.

Bumblebee came back a few minutes later. The manager helped them move the tree and the reef into the black Dodge Charger and the Camaro. Bulkhead drove to the mall and picked up the kids and headed back with the two.

"Alright, now we just have to put it together," Jack folded his arms and stared at the two large boxes. "Umm, how do we do that?" the black femme tilted her helm in confusion. Raf opened the box with the reef, which was folded in half, "You hang the reef up where others usually walk through." The yellow mech turned around and looked at the tunnel that led out of the base, _"Like there?"_

Miko smiled, "Yeah, how about you and Echo hang it up while we get the tree going?" Echo gently picked up the ornament and unfolded it. A roped was attached to the green ring on both ends, like that of a driver's hands on a steering wheel. Bumblebee grabbed a giant screw and jabbed it into the wall above the tunnel. The femme reached up and let the decoration hang against the nail. _"Perfect,"_ Bumblebee smiled and gazed.

"Almost there!" Miko yelled as she and Jack tried to lift the tree up on their own. Echo laughed and walked over to the scene. "You know, we could have helped," the scout couldn't stifle a chuckle of his own and leaned down with the femme to raise the Christmas tree. Once it was stable, Raf clicked a button on a panel attached to the power cord. Red, white, green, and blue lights flashed from the small bulbs adorning the tree.

"I'll bring the ornaments tomorrow from my mom's garage," the younger human said, pushing up his glasses. "And don't forget about my mom's Christmas party," Jack turned to Echo, "Oh, and she texted me saying that help would be a miracle." The black Autobot smiled and bowed her head, "I'll visit her afterschool tomorrow."

_"__Want me to go with you?"_ Bumblebee asked. Echo nodded and flicked her tail before turning to Raf, "Would you like to come as well, or should 'Bee and I drop you off first?" The boy stepped away from the Christmas tree into the conversation, "I'd like to help."

"Plus, someone has to keep an eye out for you two," Miko smirked, pointing at Bumblebee and Echo. Their cooling fans kicked in and Bumblebee turned red, rubbing the back of his head with his servo. The female human walked away, silently laughing.

"Hello, Mrs. Darby," Echo greeted as the door opened. "Oh, hello. You must be Emma, Jack's friend?" the mother asked, motioning for the trio to come in. "It's good to see you again, Raf. And you too, Ben." The young boy smiled awkwardly as June hugged him, and Bumblebee returned the embrace she offered him. "Thank you so much for coming to help," she turned to lead them to the kitchen. "Of course," Echo bowed her head and gazed in awe at the massive kitchen.

"I thought I wouldn't be able to get all of this done in time," June gestured towards the cookie and cake mixes, packaged sweets, and other goodies. Vegetables and fruits awaited to be cut and placed on party dishes, while dairy products, flour, and eggs sat for baking. "I see," Echo chuffed and smiled.

"I was hoping that the boys could help carry decorations out from the garage while you and I bake?" Mrs. Darby asked Echo, giving her a warm smile. The femme turned to the scout and smirked, "Don't hurt yourself."

"Oh, don't worry about me," Bumblebee narrowed his eyes as he smiled. He turned to June and smiled, "We shall get right to it, ma'am." Echo rolled her eyes and laughed as the two left the kitchen.

June giggled and turned to a cabinet, grabbing various plates and bowls. "You two are quite the couple," she teased, though a hint of sincerity lingered. Echo stopped and tilted her head, "Couple?" Mrs. Darby shook her head as she continued to smile, "Honey, I could tell by the look in your eyes."

"If only," the femme smiled and turned to her wrist, which wasn't itching, thankfully. "You aren't?" the human mother frowned and tilted her head, bringing a box of cookie mix and an egg over to Echo. "We're friends, but I guess we come off as a couple," Echo sighed and looked down at the hair tie on her other hand.

"Well, you never know," Mrs. Darby smirked and began to pour the mix into a stainless-steel bowl.

Echo smiled and reached up to put her hair in a loose bun. She walked over and washed her hands before touching anything. The two of them got to making the doughs and cake batter. Once that was finished, June divided the various mixes while Echo made her way over to cut the fruits and vegetables. "In my opinion, you'll be a great mom one day," the human female complimented, "Jack told me what happened with Brock. Raf is lucky to have you as a guardian."

"Thank you," the femme blushed and smiled as she thought what it would be like to be a carrier. Pregnancy and birthing was very dangerous if not thought out properly. Femmes often died during the war due to improper medical care for their unborn sparklings. Echo then drifted off and wondered what their child would look like if she and Bumblebee sparked. _Stop thinking like that!_

"You okay?" Bumblebee asked as he came into the kitchen, seeing the frown on the Autobot's face. "I'm good, just concentrating," Echo smiled and pulled the perfect poker face. The mech nodded and turned to Mrs. Darby, "Most of the decorations are in the living room. I just wanted to check in and see how the two of you are doing."

"Very well, thank you," June smiled and looked up from rolling out dough for a pie, "Why don't you and Raf take a break? Emma and I will bring you some lemonade in a bit."

"Thank you, ma'am," the scout gave her a thankful nod before smiling at Echo. She blushed and smiled back as he exited the room. The femme sighed and looked back to the cantaloupe she was cutting. "I don't want to say I told you so," June smirked and lightly laughed. Echo followed suit and placed the fruit onto a white dish.

"He has been a bit protective recently," Echo thought to all the nights the scout would come in and comfort her as she wept from a nightmare. Or perhaps the many times he would push her behind him when a fight heated up. "Well, that's men for you," June blinked a few times and kept rolling, "Jack also told me that Ben chased away Brock."

Echo smiled once more and her eyes glowed with warmth, thankful to the mech for caring so much. "It's not surprising that guys are fighting over you," June placed the mixture in a pan and began to pour canned cherries on top, "You're young and pretty. Ben better treat you right."

"Thank you," the femme finished the cantaloupe and moved on to a honey dew, "And I'm glad he does."

"Oh, could you please grab a couple glasses from the cabinet? I forgot about the lemonade." The human female walked over to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of the yellow drink. Echo washed her hands and got the cups. "I'll take it to them," the Autobot smiled and poured the drinks.

"Let me know what happens," Mrs. Darby smirked.

"Special delivery," Echo laughed as she walked into the living room where Bumblebee and Raf were sitting amongst a pile of boxes and storage containers. "Thank you," the scout said as she handed him a glass. "Thanks," Raf smiled and took a sip of the cool liquid.

"You two have been working hard," the femme sat down next to Bumblebee, who placed an arm over her shoulders. "So have you," the mech gestured towards the flour on her apron. Echo chuckled and rolled her eyes, "At least I'm not sweating." Bumblebee faked a pout and received a light punch on the shoulder.

"Emma, I don't mean to bother," June called from the kitchen, "But I need your help for a second." Echo smiled and Bumblebee and stood up, "I'll be back in a bit."

"Wow, this place looks awesome," Miko jumped up and down as the gang walked up to Jack's house. Christmas decorations and lights adorned the place, brighter than most of the houses on the street. "Pretty cool, huh?" Bulkhead chuckled at his charge's reaction. "It reminds me of the Helix Gardens," Echo said with tears starting form in her eyes. Bumblebee wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a smile, "Yeah, it does."

The door to the house opened and a Mrs. Darby dressed in an elf costume appeared. "Come on in," she smiled, "Merry Christmas." The group then paced up the driveway and into the door with a string of "thank you"s.

Everyone except June and Echo gasped when they saw the assortment of food on the dining room table. "No way," Miko squealed as she admired the various cakes and sweets. "Way way," Echo smiled.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help, Emma," June nodded her thanks. Echo blushed, "Well, it was my pleasure to help."

"I believe introductions are necessary," Optimus stepped forward," My name is Orion." The man in blue jeans and a red flannel shook Mrs. Darby's hand. "I'm Roderick, nice to meet you ma'am," the medic followed suit. While Arcee and Bulkhead introduced themselves, Echo and Bumblebee looked at the food.

"Human food is amazing," the scout exclaimed, taking in the sweet scent. "I can't wait to try it," Echo licked her lips and smirked.

"Alright everyone," Jack spoke up, "Who wants to watch some Christmas movies?"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Song: "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Kevin Macleod **


	16. Present

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs; Echo, Cassy, Felidae, Bluespark, and Iodine Maximo. **

**Enjoy! **

**Chapter 16**

Everyone sat around the TV as Jack put in one of the holiday movies. The humans sat on the floor with Bumblebee and Echo, while the other bots were on the couches.

"So who is this Rudolph?" Echo asked as the movie title appeared on the screen. "He's a reindeer with a shiny nose," Raf asked, pushing up his glasses, "You have to see this movie, it's my favorite."

The black femme blushed a bit when she felt Bumblebee wrap his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder and let her thoughts flow. _Maybe June is right. No! He doesn't like me, we're just really good friends, that's all._ Echo looked up at the mech and shied away when he smiled down to her. _Are we?_

* * *

Bumblebee opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground in front of the TV. He felt something in his arms and looked down to see a sleeping Echo snuggled up next to him. The mech glanced around and saw the children asleep as well.

Gently releasing Echo, the scout got up to walk into the kitchen, where Mrs. Darby and the other 'bots were. Once he got into the other room, they all turned to him. "Sorry we fell asleep," Bumblebee apologized, lightly rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't worry," June chuckled, "You guys were already into your fifth movie. Are any of you hungry?"

Before the 'bots could say anything, they heard exclaims from the living room, "We fell asleep?"

The three young humans were soon in the kitchen, still rubbing their eyes. "C'mon, Emma and I didn't make all this food for nothing," Mrs. Darby motioned for everyone to grab a plate. "I'm going to go get Emma," Bumblebee walked out of the kitchen and was surprised to see Echo still sleeping on the floor. He frowned when she flinched.

"Echo?" he knelt down and lightly shook her shoulder. "We have to save Christmas! What?" the femme screamed as she sat up, almost knocking into the scout. Bumblebee sat down, laughing. "Haha, I know, very funny," she fake pouted and stood up. "Where's everyone?"

"They're all in the kitchen eating," the scout calmed down and got to his feet. Echo grabbed his hand and practically dragged him to the kitchen, "I want some human food!"

* * *

"Amen."

Everyone lowered their hands after the prayer and began to devour their food. Echo stared at the sliver of velvet cake, a fork in her hand. "It's amazing," Bumblebee said after swallowing a bite of his own slice. The femme smiled and brought a small portion to her mouth. Her eyes went wide when the sweet icing met her taste buds. After she was done, she stared at the rest of the food in wonder, "It is."

The scout blinked as he smiled at Echo. _Just like you._

* * *

The Autobots transformed as they entered the base. Now that the children were back in their homes, they could get a little recharge. Ratchet walked over to the main computers to close down for the night while everyone else made their way towards their quarters. Once Echo and Bumblebee branched off from the group to their hallway, the femme grabbed Bumblebee's arm.

"C'mon," she said, pulling him back towards the main way. _"Whoa, what are we doing?"_ the scout beeped as Echo practically dragged him along. "I have a present for you," the femme responded.

Bumblebee chuckled, _"I have one for you too, but usually you give gifts Christmas morning. That's a few days from now."_

Echo stopped, still smiling, "Oh, but scout, I wish for you and you only to see this present."

**Song: "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" by Kevin Macleod **

**a/n: I am so sorry I have not updated for so long. And I apologize for this chapter to be so short. I was extremely busy with school sports. But, I believe it's about time I answer these reviews ;) **

**Lina Marie 02: I know, they are really cute, aren't they? Anticipation is killing me , too. **

**Black1Bee: Aww, thank you. That means a lot! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. **

**NarutoFan-Iz: Thank you :) **

**Thanks to all of my reviewers! Even though I cannot upload my stories daily *sorry*, I'll try and upload every 3 days after next week if I can. Is that a fair trade? ;) **

**-Echobee **


	17. Night Like This

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or its characters. I do own my OCs: Echo, Cassy, Felidae, Bluespark, Iodine Maximo, and Brock. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 17**

The humid air didn't stop Echo from pulling the poor scout over to the edge of the cliff. As they came to a stop, Bumblebee leaned over to catch his breath, _"Dang, you really have a strong grip."_

Echo laughed and flicked her tail. Gazing up at the stars, she took a deep breath in. "Remember our deal?" With a cocked brow, the mech straightened up. _"What deal?"_

"If I sing," the femme exhaled, "You'll teach me how to dance."

Bumblebee turned red and slightly turned away, _"I guess we're on the same page, then."_ Echo tilted her helm in confusion, optics narrowed ever so lightly. "_I was going to teach you how to dance on Christmas,"_ the scout smiled with his blue eyes and stood more confidently, as if a massive weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

"Sorry if I ruined the surprise," the femme's eyes cast down apologetically, "I just wanted you to hear me." Bumblebee smirked, _"And what exactly is on the menu tonight?"_ Laughing, Echo shied away, "Have you ever heard Safe and Sound?"

Bumblebee nodded and his smile grew, _"You want to sing it?"_ Echo exhaled deeply, "Yeah, it's my favorite song."

_"__I'll turn around if you want me to,"_ the scout tilted his head and smiled sympathetically at the femme. "No," she smiled and grabbed Bumblebee's hand. He slightly flinched at the act, but calmed down as she guided him closer to the edge. The two sat down and looked up at the small, white dots in the sky. Echo smiled and closed her eyes.

As the words flowed from her lips, Bumblebee's optics widened in shock. "I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'd never let you go," Echo focused on a cluster of stars as she sang.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down," Bumblebee's optics blinked for a second before he turned to smile at the femme. Her armor shone in the night sky, the stars reflecting in her optics.

Hours seemed to pass by before Echo finished singing. Once the last note came out, she opened her optics and took in a deep breath. _"I never knew you could sing like that,"_ the scout reached over and began playing with the femme's fingers. "I haven't sung in front of someone else in over a vorn."

Bumblebee stood up and bowed, _"Well, my lady, I believe it is time I contribute to my half of the deal."_ Echo giggled and took Bumblebee's outstretched servo, standing up.

_"__Have you ever heard of the tango?"_

* * *

Echo woke up to the sound of a knock on her door. Looking around, she noticed that Bumblebee was not next to her like usual. The femme stood up and stretched slightly. When she opened the door, the familiar black and yellow paint job met her.

_"__Good morning gorgeous,"_ Bumblebee chuckled, noticing how tired Echo seemed. With a yawn, the black Autobot smiled back and stepped outside, "You too." She popped her neck and exhaled in satisfaction. _"Tough sleep?"_ the scout lifted a brow. "Actually, no," Echo began to blush and turned away. _"Really? Interesting,"_ Bumblebee said cautiously.

The femme's cooling fans began to kick in and she spun to face the scout, "Well, I gotta go." She transformed into her car form and sped down the hallway, a ploom of smoke surrounding the yellow Autobot. _"What the heck was that about?"_

**Lina Marie 02: Hehe, yep, not exactly that kind of present….but soon enough *laughs evilly* **

**Black1Bee: Yeah, I had to get something out on a 30 minute time crunch :/ But I will try to post longer chapters from now on ;) My goal is 100 chapters….does that seem too long? **

**Echo: So…exactly what are you planning? **

**Me: Spoilers**

**Echo: Really? A Doctor Who reference? **

**Me: Hey I can't reveal anything. **

**Echo: PLEASE?! **

**Me: *sigh* Fine…**

**Next time on SFS: **

**"****I wonder what those two are up to." –Bulkhead **

**"****You're not suggesting they-?" –Ratchet **

**"****Bumblebee, I need to tell you something…" –Echo **

**Song: "Night Like This" by LP **


End file.
